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Updated: Jun 10, 2025

In Situ Immunofluorescent Staining of Autophagy in Muscle Stem Cells
Published on: June 12, 2017
Natural Autophagy Activators to Fight Age-Related Diseases
Vianey M Mundo Rivera1, José Roberto Tlacuahuac Juárez2, Nadia Mireya Murillo Melo1,3
1Departamento de Bioingeniería, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Campus Ciudad de México, Mexico City 14380, Mexico.
Abstract:
The constant increase in the elderly population presents significant challenges in addressing new social, economic, and health problems concerning this population. With respect to health, aging is a primary risk factor for age-related diseases, which are driven by interconnected molecular hallmarks that influence the development of these diseases. One of the main mechanisms that has attracted more attention to aging is autophagy, a catabolic process that removes and recycles damaged or dysfunctional cell components to preserve cell viability. The autophagy process can be induced or deregulated in response to a wide range of internal or external stimuli, such as starvation, oxidative stress, hypoxia, damaged organelles, infectious pathogens, and aging. Natural compounds that promote the stimulation of autophagy regulatory pathways, such as mTOR, FoxO1/3, AMPK, and Sirt1, lead to increased levels of essential proteins such as Beclin-1 and LC3, as well as a decrease in p62. These changes indicate the activation of autophagic flux, which is known to be decreased in cardiovascular diseases, neurodegeneration, and cataracts. The regulated administration of natural compounds offers an adjuvant therapeutic alternative in age-related diseases; however, more experimental evidence is needed to support and confirm these health benefits. Hence, this review aims to highlight the potential benefits of natural compounds in regulating autophagy pathways as an alternative approach to combating age-related diseases.
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