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Updated: Aug 31, 2025

Assessing Lysosomal Alkalinization in the Intestine of Live Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: April 13, 2018
Autophagy in aging-related oral diseases
Daniel Peña-Oyarzún1,2,3, Carla San Martin2, María Paz Hernández-Cáceres3
1Physiology Department, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Abstract:
Autophagy is an intracellular degradation mechanism that allows recycling of organelles and macromolecules. Autophagic function increases metabolite availability modulating metabolic pathways, differentiation and cell survival. The oral environment is composed of several structures, including mineralized and soft tissues, which are formed by complex interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal cells. With aging, increased prevalence of oral diseases such as periodontitis, oral cancer and periapical lesions are observed in humans. These aging-related oral diseases are chronic conditions that alter the epithelial-mesenchymal homeostasis, disrupting the oral tissue architecture affecting the quality of life of the patients. Given that autophagy levels are reduced with age, the purpose of this review is to discuss the link between autophagy and age-related oral diseases.
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