What is Autophagocytosis?

The segregation and degradation of damaged or unwanted cytoplasmic constituents by autophagic vacuoles (cytolysosomes) composed of lysosomes containing cellular components in the process of digestion; it plays an important role in metamorphosis of amphibians, in the removal of bone by osteoclasts, and in the degradation of normal cell components in nutritional deficiency states.