Mitophagy is a form of autophagy (from the Greek for “self-eating”), a process through which cellular material is degraded. During the most common form of mitophagy, damaged or dysfunctional mitochondria are engulfed and ultimately broken down in a cellular structure called an autolysosome.^[1][2] Mitophagy, together with the creation of new, healthy mitochondria, allows cells to maintain a balanced population of mitochondria.

The mitophagy pathway