Researchers identify crucial elements that initiate autophagy processes within cells.

Recycling takes place in our cells at all times: in a process called autophagy, cell components that are no longer needed are enclosed by membranes and broken down into their basic building blocks. This vital process prevents the formation of harmful aggregates and makes nutrients available again. A research team co-led by Prof. Dr. Claudine Kraft from the CIBSS Cluster of Excellence at the University of Freiburg and Dr. Florian Wilfling from the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt has now discovered the conditions necessary for autophagy to start. They were also able to artificially create these conditions and thus trigger the degradation of otherwise non-degradable molecules in yeast cells. Targeting autophagy in this way is a promising approach for promoting the degradation of aggregates that can otherwise form plaques in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, as well as to improve the efficacy of cancer treatments. The study has been published in the scientific journal Nature Cell Biology.

Weak molecular interactions play a crucial role in initiating the process of autophagy.

For the process of autophagy to effectively degrade cellular components, these components must first be identified as waste. This identification is facilitated by receptor and various adapter molecules. Until now, the precise mechanism by which these molecules initiate the subsequent actions was unclear. "Our research has revealed that the receptors need to establish a weak binding with the waste material in order for autophagy to commence," states Kraft. "If the binding is too strong, the process fails to initiate."

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