Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Decelerating ageing and biological clocks by autophagy

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 20, pages 385–386 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

Ageing is the most important risk factor for the majority of human pathologies. We propose the concept that the advancement of the hallmarks of ageing is dictated by several distinct biological clocks that can be decelerated by the induction of autophagy. This ‘time dilation’ delays the time-dependent manifestation of multiple diseases.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. López-Otín, C. et al. The hallmarks of aging. Cell 153, 1194–1217 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Kalfalah, F. et al. Crosstalk of clock gene expression and autophagy in ageing. Ageing 8, 1876–1895 (2016).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Madeo, F. et al. Caloric restriction mimetics against age-associated disease: targets, mechanisms, and therapeutic potential. Cell Metab. 29, 592–610 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Hansen, M., Rubinsztein, D. C. & Walker, D. W. Autophagy as a promoter of longevity: insights from model organisms. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 19, 579–593 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Levine, B. & Kroemer, G. Biological functions of autophagy genes: a disease perspective. Cell 176, 11–42 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain

    Carlos Lopez-Otín

  2. Equipe labellisée par la Ligue contre le cancer, Université Paris Descartes, Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Université, INSERM U1138, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Paris, France

    Carlos Lopez-Otín & Guido Kroemer

  3. Metabolomics and Cell Biology Platforms, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France

    Guido Kroemer

  4. Pôle de Biologie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, AP-HP, Paris, France

    Guido Kroemer

  5. Suzhou Institute for Systems Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, China

    Guido Kroemer

  6. Karolinska Institute, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Guido Kroemer

Authors
  1. Carlos Lopez-Otín
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Guido Kroemer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guido Kroemer.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

G.K. is a scientific cofounder for Samsara Therapeutics. The other author declares no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lopez-Otín, C., Kroemer, G. Decelerating ageing and biological clocks by autophagy. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 20, 385–386 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-019-0149-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-019-0149-8

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing