If you are looking for a way to slow down the aging process and keep your body healthy, you may need to know about autophagy. This natural process helps your body cells to get rid of unwanted and damaged components and recycle them for better use. And doing so, it provides you with many anti-aging benefits.
In today’s article, we’ll explore the science behind the anti-aging effects of autophagy.
Aging is an imminent part of life, but that doesn’t mean we have to sit back and see our bodies impaired. Researchers are now looking at different ways to slow down the aging process and keep our bodies healthy and active. One such promising way is the activation of autophagy, which has become a hot research topic in the aging field.
Autophagy is a natural process that occurs in almost all body cells. It breaks down and recycles the old and damaged parts, allowing the cell to renew and stay healthy.
Autophagy is particularly important in the brain, where it helps prevent the accumulation of toxic proteins that can lead to age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Recently, there has been a tremendous interest in the anti-aging role of autophagy. Numerous studies have reported that this process can promote longevity.
But how does it do this?
Research has suggested the following three ways through which autophagy can slow down the aging process and promote longevity.
1) Removal of Dysfunctional Organelles
As we age, most organelles inside the cell tend to lose their ability to perform vital functions and eventually become dysfunctional. Mitochondria are such essential organelles. They provide most of the energy to the cell and maintain a healthy cellular condition. Over time, there is a decrease in mitochondrial quality and activity. And as a result, their ability to provide cellular energy is lost, and they become dysfunctional. Current research has revealed that aging is directly linked to the accumulation of such dysfunctional mitochondria.
Autophagy plays a crucial role in removing dysfunctional mitochondria. In fact, there is a particular term coined for this type of autophagy, “mitophagy.” Mitophagy is simply defined as the selective removal of mitochondria that are no longer needed.
Researchers think that enhancing mitophagy activity improves cell functions and promotes healthy aging. Based on findings from animal research, they consider mitophagy as an effective strategy for slowing the aging process and extending lifespan (R R).
2) Clearing Out Toxic Proteins
In addition to accumulating the organelles, the building up of toxic proteins also contributes to aging. Researchers have already identified many such proteins. Among them, the two that got more attention are the beta-amyloid and alpha-synuclein proteins, mainly because they are linked to the two most common forms of age-related diseases, namely Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, respectively.
Beta-amyloid is the abnormally fragmented form of its precursor protein, the beta-amyloid precursor protein. This precursor protein plays a role in neuronal growth and repair. When not eliminated, the beta-amyloid fragments deposit in the brain, leading to Alzheimer’s disease (R).
Similarly, alpha-synuclein is a vital brain protein most often associated with normal neuronal communication. Its dysfunction causes the production of abnormal structures called Lewy bodies, which is the typical feature that appears in the brain of Parkinson’s patients (R).
Animal studies have shown that abnormal accumulation of beta-amyloid and alpha-synuclein proteins in the brain enhances the aging process (R R). Autophagy is one of the major pathways responsible for the clearance of these toxic proteins and for preventing their accumulation in the brain. And by doing so, it protects the body from developing brain diseases and promotes longevity.
3) Improved metabolism
Metabolism refers to the complex set of chemical reactions that occur in the body to maintain life. These reactions include the breakdown of food into energy and the synthesis of molecules needed for cell survival.
Our body’s metabolism tends to decline as we get older, and this decline may become apparent after the age of 60.
Researchers have now increasingly realized that autophagy, metabolism, and aging are strongly linked. They have found that autophagy is regulated by the same factors regulating metabolism and aging, and one such factor is the TOR (target-of-rapamycin).
TOR is a well-known protein that senses the metabolic status of the body. It’s active when there is plenty of nutrients in the body. And this activation of TOR suppresses the autophagy process.
Since metabolic activity decreases with age, enhancing autophagy by inhibiting TOR might contribute to the body’s improved metabolic activity, increasing longevity. Several studies conducted in animals have reported that inhibiting the TOR activity increases the lifespan (R R R R).
Conclusion
Autophagy has gotten more attention than ever due to its anti-aging effects. As you see, it slows down the aging process in many ways. While we discussed here the three main ones, research is underway to uncover additional ways through which autophagy contributes to the anti-aging process. It’s noteworthy to remember that these effects were reported in animals and have yet to be tested in humans.
