Autophagy and aging keeping organelles and the proteome healthy

Maintenance of cellular homeostasis requires continuous surveillance of the intracellular environment. The combined action of the chaperone network and the proteolytic systems assures that altered proteins and organelles can be rapidly identified and eliminated from inside cells. Failure to perform this quality control leads to the accumulation of damaged products that become toxic for cells and often precipitate loss of cellular functionality and even cell death (Morimoto and Cuervo 2009). A gradual decline of the activity and efficiency of the cellular surveillance systems occurs with age and acts as an aggravating factor for different age-related pathologies such as neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic disorders (Morimoto 2008).