Abstract
Autophagy is a conserved biological process used by cells to degrade and recycle components. Defects in autophagy are associated with multiple disease states, while interventions that promote autophagy may improve health. In a session at the 20th Congress of the International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB), which was held along with the annual meetings of the Brazilian Society of Biophysics (SBBf) and the Brazilian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SBBq), four speakers presented their studies linking autophagy to neurodegenerative diseases, heart failure, stress response, metabolism, and aging. They also proposed strategies to target autophagy as a way to ameliorate health.