Autophagy

Autophagy (or autophagocytosis) (from the Greek auto-, "self" and phagein, "to eat"), is the natural, destructive mechanism that disassembles, through a regulated process, unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components.

Autophagy allows the orderly degradation and recycling of cellular components. During this process, targeted cytoplasmic constituents are isolated from the rest of the cell within a double-membraned vesicle known as an autophagosome. The autophagosome then fuses with a lysosome and the contents are degraded and recycled. There are three different forms of autophagy that are commonly described, namely macroautophagy, microautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy. In the context of disease, autophagy has been seen as an adaptive response to stress which promotes survival, whereas in other cases it appears to promote cell death and morbidity. In the extreme case of starvation, the breakdown of cellular components promotes cellular survival by maintaining cellular energy levels.

Cellular

Cellular may refer to:

See also

Cellular (film)

Cellular is a 2004 American action crime thriller film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Jason Statham, Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, and William H. Macy. The screenplay was written by Chris Morgan, Larry Cohen, and J. Mackye Gruber (not credited).

Plot

Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger), a high school biology teacher, takes her son Ricky to the school bus. After she returns home, several men kidnap her and confine her in the attic of their safe house. Ethan Greer (Jason Statham), the group leader, smashes the attic's telephone. Jessica uses the wires of the broken phone and randomly dials a number. She reaches the cell phone of Ryan (Chris Evans), a carefree young man who has just been dumped by his girlfriend, Chloe (Jessica Biel).

Jessica persuades Ryan to go to the police station, where he briefly reports to Mooney, but has to leave to avoid losing connection. Ethan asks Jessica about something, which she denies knowing, and leaves to get Ricky. Overhearing them, Ryan gets to Ricky's school, only to see the boy kidnapped. He hijacks a security officer's car and gives chase. When his phone battery runs out, he takes the gun in the car, cuts in line at a shop and buys a charger.