A novel hypothesis of lipofuscinogenesis and cellular aging based on interactions between oxidative stress and autophagocytosis

Based on a series of experiments, using cultured postmitotic neonatal rat cardiac myocytes as a model system, we present a novel hypothesis of lipofuscin formation. This hypothesis proposes that lipofuscin is formed within secondary lysosomes due to an interplay of two processes, the production of partially reduced oxygen species by mitochondria and the autophagocytotic degradation within secondary lysosomes. Specifically, it is proposed that H₂O₂ generated by mitochondria and other organelles permeates into the lumen of secondary lysosomes, which contain iron derived from cellular structures undergoing intralysosomal degradation. The interaction between reactive ferrous iron and H₂O₂ results, via Fenton-type mechanisms, in the generation of hydroxyl free radicals (OH), inducing lipid peroxidation and eventually leading to intermolecular cross-linking and lipofuscin formation. Additionally, mitochondria undergoing intralysosomal decomposition might continue for a certain period to produce superoxide anion radicals (O₂⁻) and thus also H₂O₂. This model of lipofuscinogenesis could satisfactorily explain the variations observed in the rates of lipofuscinogenesis among different postmitotic cell types in various species. Such variations might arise from a variety of factors including differences in the efficiency of the ‘anti-oxidative shield’, rate of H₂O₂ generation, amount of chain-breaking antioxidants, mode of intralysosomal iron chelation, rate of autophagocytosis as well as degree of efficiency of the intralysosomal hydrolytic enzymes.