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Cell biology

Regulated self-cannibalism

Nature volume 431, pages 31–32 (2004)Cite this article

Cells consume parts of themselves to survive starvation and during development. But how do they control this process of self-eating so that it begins at the right time and does not end up killing the cell?

When you are fasting or are otherwise deprived of food, your body starts to break down stored nutrients to keep essential processes and organs (such as your brain) supplied with fuel. Similarly, when a cell is deprived of nutrients it will degrade some of its own constituents to stay alive. It does this by the process of autophagy — literally, ‘self-eating’. Writing in Developmental Cell, Scott and colleagues1 and Rusten and co-workers2 provide new insights into how autophagy is regulated in the cell, both as a response to starvation and during development.

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Figure 1: Cellular self-eating: the basics.

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  1. Departments of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, and of Biological Chemistry, Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, Michigan, USA

    Daniel J. Klionsky

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  1. Daniel J. Klionsky
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Klionsky, D. Regulated self-cannibalism. Nature 431, 31–32 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/431031a

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