Autophagy doesn't uniformly decline with age, study finds — SkimNews
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- Sanford Burnham Prebys researchers, led by Caroline Kumsta and first author Tatiana Moreno, reported on September 27, 2026 in Aging Cell that autophagy activity does not uniformly decline with age but instead changes differently in each cell type and in men versus women.
- The team analyzed blood cells, skin cells, and skin-derived induced neurons from 23 men and women aged 23–72 with no chronic conditions, and found autophagy decreased with age in skin cells from men, remained stable in skin cells from women, and increased in induced neurons from women.
- Gene-expression levels for autophagy genes did not reliably track measured recycling activity, prompting Moreno to warn that researchers using transcription data alone to infer autophagy "need to be really careful about their interpretations."
- In participants aged 70 and older, higher recycling activity was associated with poorer physical function across all three cell types — lower aerobic fitness in blood cells, higher BMI in skin cells, and weaker grip strength, lower metabolism, and higher resting heart rate in induced neurons.
- A 12-week gentle exercise pilot in five adults aged 77–88 lowered autophagy activity in blood cells toward levels typical of younger adults and improved physical performance, though Kumsta called larger studies necessary to validate the pattern.
- The Kumsta lab received a pilot grant from UC San Diego's Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute to run expanded exercise studies with the Exercise and Physical Activity Resource Center.
- Funding came from the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging, American Foundation for Aging Research, Conrad Prebys Foundation, the Newman Family Foundation, and the Helmsley Charitable Trust.
Why it matters: The work reframes a central assumption in aging biology — that boosting autophagy is universally beneficial — by tying higher recycling activity in older adults to worse aerobic fitness, grip strength, and metabolic markers across multiple cell types, a finding that could redirect how drug developers design healthy-aging therapies targeting autophagy.
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