Taking out the Rubbish: New Insights into Vacuolar Acidification

[Para. 1 of Summary] Lysosomes – also known as a vacuoles – are responsible for the same unglamorous but necessary task that sees me dragging giant plastic wheelie-bins to the curb once a week: we’re all taking out the rubbish. While I’m doing it on a household level, those busy lysosomes are hard at work inside animal cells – and not just weekly, they are at it all the time. However, when the activity of these membrane-bound organelles (compartments within cells) is interrupted, harmful by-products accumulate. This can have a profound negative impact on cell survival and health, ultimately leading to disease.