title: Autophagy defends cells against invading group A Streptococcus.
abstract: We found that the autophagic machinery could effectively eliminate pathogenic group A Streptococcus (GAS) within nonphagocytic cells. After escaping from endosomes into the cytoplasm, GAS became enveloped by autophagosome-like compartments and were killed upon fusion of these compartments with lysosomes. In autophagy-deficient Atg5-/- cells, GAS survived, multiplied, and were released from the cells. Thus, the autophagic machinery can act as an innate defense system against invading pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Molecular Microbiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, 1-8 Yamadaoka, Suita-Osaka 565-0871, Japan. ichiro@dent.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Atsuo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mizushima
authors.forename: Akitsugu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamimoto
authors.forename: Atsuki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nara
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Funao
authors.forename: Masanobu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Kayoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: Tamotsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimori
mesh_terms: D001343:Autophagy / Q000502:physiology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000502:physiology; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000276:immunology*