What is Autophagocytosis?

Autophagocyte is defined as the process of intracellular uptake and degeneration of damaged or worn organelles. Cells with sublethal lesions usually have a large number of damaged organelles. Autophagocytosis

Cells have a system in charge of cleaning their interior after a destruction process, and in autophagy, portions of the cytoplasmic matrix and its damaged organelles are surrounded by cell membranes to form autophagosomes, which subsequently fuse with lysosomes.

When phagocytic leukocytes ingest dead or dying cells, the process is very similar and is known as heterophagy. Autophagy is a common reaction of sublethal injured cells, cells that undergo a cycle of physiological regression (glands), and atrophy due to different causes. Autophagocytosis

Recently, it has been discovered that autophagocytic pathways can lead to a different type of cell death.

Under the light microscope, autophagic vacuoles can be seen as eosinophilic inclusions and are more common in the liver and kidneys. As digestion evolves, electron-dense lamellar remains are formed. Autophagocytosis

Some vacuoles are expelled from the cell by exocytosis, while others remain as residual corpuscles, and the content gives rise to lipofuscin, also called wear pigment.

Proteins that are erroneously or otherwise incorrectly folded occur in various circumstances within the cell, both in normal and pathological states. Autophagocytosis

These proteins can be repaired by chaperones or they can be degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

The target proteins are conjugated with ubiquitin which, through another cascade mechanism, results in polyubiquitination and the direction of the protein towards the proteasome, which is a complex composed of several subunits that has a catalytic center in charge of degrading the proteins. proteins responsible for its elimination. Autophagocytosis

The removal of all classes of proteins, including cell signaling molecules, allows for proper control of cell function, growth, and replication.

This pathway also acts in the activation and inhibition of apoptosis, as well as in the sublethal lesion.