Illustration from Anne Simonsen article on the cover of "Autophagy"

The image shows protein aggregates (red) that accumulate in the brain of a fruit fly defective in autophagy. Cell nuclei are shown in blue.
(click for further enlargement)
The image shows protein aggregates (red) that accumulate in the brain of a fruit fly defective in autophagy. Cell nuclei are shown in blue. (click for further enlargement)
A figure from a paper by Anne Simonsen and co-workers has been given the cover space of the February 16th issue of the journal Autophagy (impact factor 6,7). Results presented in the article - which is entitled "Promoting basal levels of autophagy in the nervous system enhances longevity and oxidant resistance in adult Drosophila" - indicate that induction of autophagy in the neurons of aging flies strongly increases their life span.
The e-published version of the article has previously been dedicated an editorial ("Editor's choice") in Science.

Anne Simonsen is the leader of the project group "Autophagy in health and disease" at the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR)."

Links:

Simonsen A, Cumming RC, Brech A, Isakson P, Schubert DR, Finley KD.
Promoting basal levels of autophagy in the nervous system enhances longevity and oxidant resistance in adult Drosophila. (link to Pubmed)
Autophagy. 2008 Mar-Apr;4(2):176-84. Epub 2007 Nov 6.

Autophagy paper from ICR researchers highlighted in Science - a news article from radium.no

Project group Autophagy in health and disease

Harald Stenmark's group: Intracellular communication

Department of Biochemistry

Institute for Cancer Research