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autophagy

autophagy

1 8.0
A process in which a cell breaks down its own parts and uses them to stay healthy
  • noun
  • /ˌɔːtəˈfɑːdʒi/
  • Specialized
: autofagia
  • Many studies indicate that autophagy is vital for cellular health and longevity by clearing harmful substances.
  • autophagy proteins
  • autophagy regulators
  • autophagy activation

And I wrote my first book on autophagy and self eating of the cell.

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Examples

  • While its function in autophagy is well established, other roles are less widely appreciated in mammalian cells.

    Academic text (2018)
  • The process of autophagy allows cells to recycle their damaged components to maintain health.

  • And I wrote my first book on autophagy and self eating of the cell.

  • And both of those ramp up your rate of autophagy, which is a very, very good and healthy thing.

  • Exercise can get you to autophagy faster than fasting.

  • And so autophagy is required for some steps of the immuno surveillance process.

  • Here we show that autophagy is essential for normal neutrophil differentiation in vivo.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Long-lived proteins and organelles can be degraded in the autophagy-lysosomal degradation pathway.

    Academic text (2018)
  • Cells rely on autophagy to remove unnecessary proteins and organelles during stress.

Surface Forms

autophagy singular
autophagies plural

Morphology

autophagy = auto + phagy

This is a technical term built from Greek combining forms meaning 'self' + 'eating'; the meaning is fairly direct in scientific contexts but not fully transparent to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

The word autophagy comes from the Greek parts auto- 'self' and -phagy 'to eat', and auto- is the same 'self' you see in automatic. So it literally means 'self-eating', which helps you remember that cells break down and recycle their own parts to stay healthy.