Access

News and Views

Nature 432, 963 (23 December 2004) | doi:10.1038/432963a; Published online 22 December 2004

Developmental biology: Survival by self-digestion

Nathaniel Heintz1

Top

Mammals face a problem just after birth: they are no longer nourished through the placenta, but suckling has not yet begun. How do they survive? Digestion of the animal's own cells could be the answer.

All organisms must adapt to environmental stresses. One of the most beautiful examples of a response to stress is autophagy — a process first described in electron microscopic studies in the kidneys of newborn mice1, and now known to be one of the major pathways for the degradation of long-lived proteins and cellular organelles2, 3.

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Neurodegeneration Good riddance to bad rubbish

Nature News and Views (15 Jun 2006)

Atg5: more than an autophagy factor

Nature Cell Biology News and Views (01 Oct 2006)

See all 4 matches for News And Views