sugary diet endangers waste-eating protein P62

[corybroo]

Study suggests sugary diet endangers waste-eating protein crucial to cellular repair

A protein that functions like the vintage video game Pac-Man, eating toxic cellular waste caused by high sugar intake, is itself compromised by a sugary diet

The protein alleviates age-related cellular damage stemming from too much sugar consumption

A high-sugar diet, typical in the United States, causes damaging byproducts to build up in cells. The byproducts, called advanced glycation end products (AGEs), accumulate and are linked with age-related diseases. [I’ve yet to meet anyone who thinks he/she is not on a low sugar, healthy diet.]

• p62's (the Pac-Man-like protein) self-cleaning ability plays a role in clearance of AGEs. Augmenting p62 accelerates cell cleaning.
• Loss of p62 leads to cell toxicity from sugar and accumulation of AGEs.
• p62's targeting of cells for clean-up is compromised by glycative stress, a reaction from sugar.
• Autophagy (the body's cell-cleaning process), when chemically enhanced, protects against glycative damage.