Aging (senescence) is characterized by a progressive accumulation of macromolecular
damage, supposedly due to a continuous minor oxidative stress associated with
mitochondrial respiration. Aging mainly affects long-lived postmitotic cells, such as neurons
and cardiac myocytes, which neither divide and dilute damaged structures, nor are replaced
by newly differentiated cells. Because of inherent imperfect lysosomal degradation
(autophagy) and other self-repair mechanisms, damaged structures (biological “garbage”) …