Stress, Starvation, and Survival: Autophagy in Action

Stress, Starvation, and Survival: Autophagy in Action

Submitted by Sandhya Sanduja in the Gupta Laboratory at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

Whitehead Institute, MIT Department of Biology, Koch Institute at MIT

When cells are starved for nutrients, they start a ‘self-eating’ process called autophagy. The bright green puncta or autophagosomes as they are called, represent centers inside the cells where cellular components are engulfed and degraded. This provides an internal supply of nutrients and helps cells to survive during starvation. I am studying how autophagy helps cancer cells survive during stress.

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