How cells decide the way they want to recycle their content
Friday, May 15, 2020 - 09:40
in Physics & Chemistry
Autophagy is a housekeeping process through which cells remove dysfunctional contents to balance energy sources during times of stress. Now, researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) identified a novel molecular mechanism by which a type of autophagy, called alternative autophagy, is activated. In a new study published in Nature Communications, they showed how a specific phosphorylation site of the protein Unc51-like kinase 1 (Ulk1) is essential for the cell to go down the alternative autophagy path.