Monitoring mitophagy during aging in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Mitochondria constitute the main energy-producing centers of eukaryotic cells. In addition, they are involved in several crucial cellular processes, such as lipid metabolism, calcium buffering, and apoptosis. As such, their malfunction can be detrimental for proper cellular physiology and homeostasis. Mitophagy is a mechanism that protects and maintains cellular function by sequestering harmful or dysfunctional mitochondria to lysosomes for degradation. In this report, we present experimental procedures for quantitative, in vivo monitoring of mitophagy events in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.