Measurements of autophagy flux in human tissue show that the cellular recycling process is not uniformly diminished with age but remodeled in patterns that differ by sex and by cell type. Lower flux in older adults corresponded with reduced physical function, linking a core quality-control mechanism to measurable performance decline.
Key Points
- Autophagy flux changes with age differ by sex and cell type
- Reduced flux in older adults tracked with lower physical function
- Aging alters, rather than uniformly suppresses, cellular recycling capacity
Longevity Analysis
Clearance of damaged proteins and organelles underpins muscle maintenance, mitochondrial quality, and immune cell competence, so sex- and tissue-specific differences in this process argue against uniform intervention strategies aimed at stimulating it. Physical function serves here as an accessible outward readout of an internal housekeeping capacity that is otherwise invisible without tissue sampling, making strength and mobility metrics worth tracking as proxies for regenerative reserve. Interventions that modulate this pathway — fasting intervals, exercise loading, pharmacological agents — warrant calibration to the individual rather than application by protocol.
Original published by Wiley Aging Cell, by Tatiana M. Moreno, Stephanie R. Heimler, Ryan J. Moran, Hava Shoshana Barkai, Lina Scandalis, Larissa Traxler, Ashley Neil, Stephen Dozier, Jaclyn Bergstrom, Alexandre R. Colas, Sanjeev S. Ranade, Anne G. Bang, Jerome Mertens, David Wing, Anthony J. Molina, Caroline Kumsta .