A compound found in olive oil, called oleuropein aglycone, triggers a cellular cleanup process known as autophagy by influencing the AMPK and mTOR signaling molecules.

Oleuropein aglycone, a compound found in olives, triggers a sequence of molecular events in human nerve cancer cells and mouse brain tissue that leads to the formation of cellular structures involved in recycling damaged components. This process is associated with changes in calcium levels and specific protein modifications.

Oleuropein aglycone, a compound found in olive plants, triggers a cellular cleanup process called autophagy in human cancer cells and mouse brain tissue by altering specific signaling molecules that regulate this process.

Oleuropein aglycone triggers a cellular cleanup process called autophagy in human neuroblastoma cells, and part of this effect requires AMPK activity. When AMPK is blocked, autophagy decreases but still occurs, suggesting other pathways besides AMPK are also involved.

In a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, a specific olive oil compound given in the diet for 8 weeks altered key cellular signaling molecules in a way that suggests increased autophagy, a process that clears damaged cellular components.

In human muscle precursor cells grown in the lab, a compound called oleuropein aglycone increases markers of autophagy—cellular cleanup processes—to the same extent as rapamycin, a known trigger of autophagy.