Autophagy defect causes loss of muscle in aging

(Toyohashi University of Technology) Toyohashi Tech researchers, in cooperation with researchers at Kyoto Prefectural University and the Heath Science University of Hokkaido, have detected marked upregulation of p62/SQSTM1, but not LC3, protein levels in the cytosol of sarcopenic muscle fibers in mice. This unbalanced expression appears to induce an autophagic defect in skeletal muscle and consequent loss of muscle mass. This finding contributes to our understanding of the molecular mechanism of...