Lysosomes, a part of an animal cells, helps break down large molecules into smaller ones that can be reused.
Lysosomes are found in the body’s cells and play an important role in digesting nutrients and other materials.
Christian de Duve, then chairman of the Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, had been studying the mechanism of action of a pancreatic hormone insulin in liver cells.
The protein encoded by this gene is a small glycolipid transport protein which acts as a substrate specific co-factor for the lysosomal enzyme β-hexosaminidase A.
Today this phenomenon is explained by the overexpression and accumulation of the endogenous lysosomal beta-galactosidase specifically in senescent cells.