Tressed cells will often limit their activity in a fail-safe system to prevent self-destruction. a possible example of this is that when the delicate capillaries in the lungs are stressed by high blood pressure, they will stop making an enzyme (angiotensin converting enzyme) that creates further increases in blood pressure.
Autophagy is an intracellular process of degradation, which includes the destruction of cytoplasmic components in the lysosomes. These components are considered unnecessary or dysfunctional and that is why they are recycled by the cell.
Autophagy has four sequential steps which are the sequestration, the transport of the components to the lysosome, the degradation, and the recycling and utilization of the degradation products.
Autophagy is considered as an adaptive response to stress by ensuring the survival of the cell and the tissue.
