Post-Mortum Respiration Leads to Autophagy Gone Wrong?

When a person dies, the person obviously is not able to and therefore, no longer breathing. However, what about the person's cells? Although, the person is no longer respiring, are the person's cells still respiring? Luckily for us, this article answers that question. As of now, it is believed that cell metabolism likely continues for four to ten minutes after a person dies, depending on the temperature around the body. Blood stops circulating, so cellular respiration can only continue for a little while. The oxygen present is used in cellular respiration, and the waste product carbon dioxide is created.

Carbon dioxide becomes carbonic acid, thus lowering the pH of the cell. The acidic environment results in the rupture of intracellular membranes. This rupturing includes the membranes of the lysosomes. Lysosomes contain enzymes which digest all sorts of macromolecules, like proteins, fats, and nucleic acids. Once the lysosome membranes are burst the cell literally begins eating itself from the inside out, resulting in the death of the cell. This process is known as autolysis.