Autophagisk

Autophagisk is an adjective used in some languages to describe phenomena related to autophagy, the cellular process of self-digestion in which cytoplasmic material is sequestered in double-membrane vesicles and delivered to lysosomes for degradation. In English, the standard terms are autophagic or autophagy; autophagisk can function as a translation or technical descriptor in non-English sources.

The core process of autophagy includes macroautophagy, microautophagy, and chaperone-mediated autophagy. Macroautophagy involves the formation of a phagophore that expands to become an autophagosome, which then fuses with lysosomes. Key regulators include the ULK1 complex, Beclin-1/PI3K class III, and the mTOR pathway, which coordinate initiation, membrane nucleation, and elongation of the autophagosomal membrane. ATG genes encode proteins essential for autophagosome formation and cargo selection.

Autophagisk-related concepts also encompass selective autophagy, such as mitophagy (mitochondria), pexophagy (peroxisomes), and xenophagy (microbes), where cargo-specific adaptors recognize targets for degradation. Beyond nutrient recycling during starvation, autophagy contributes to organelle quality control, cellular differentiation, development, and innate immune responses.

In health and disease, dysregulation of autophagy can contribute to pathology. Insufficient autophagic activity is linked to neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic disorders, and certain cancers, while excessive autophagy can be detrimental in some contexts. Autophagy is a focus of therapeutic research, with efforts to modulate flux to treat diseases and influence aging.

Historically, autophagy was described in the mid-20th century, with genetic dissection advancing in yeast studies by Yoshinori Ohsumi, who received the Nobel Prize in 2016. The term autophagisk remains primarily a linguistic variant used in non-English sources to denote autophagic processes.