The response of the body to starvation is a complex process. This paper is interesting, because if there is loss of ribosomes, then refeeding has to be a cautious process until the cellular synthetic processes are restored to full .
Autophagy is a process in which cytoplasmic components are broken down to supply materials for the synthesis of essential molecules under nutrient-limiting conditions. Because this process involves random sequestration of the cytoplasm by large membrane vesicles, considerable amounts of molecules, such as ribosomes, are necessarily degraded by autophagy. However, starving cells also promote additional selective degradation of ribosomes as a requirement for survival.
Hitoshi Nakatogawa and Yoshinori Ohsumi (2008) Starved cells eat ribosomes Nature Cell Biology vol 10 pp 505-7

blogger_blog:

www.nutrition-nutritionists.com

blogger_author:

Martin Eastwood

blogger_permalink:

/2008/06/biology-of-starvation.html