title: Autophagy as an emerging dimension to adaptive and innate immunity.
abstract: Autophagy is an evolutionary conserved cellular process during which cytoplasmic material is engulfed in double membrane vacuoles that then fuse with lysosomes, ultimately degrading their cargo. Emerging evidence, however, now suggests that autophagy can form part of our innate and adaptive immune defense programs. Recent studies have identified pattern recognition molecules as mediators of this process and shown that intracellular pathogens can interact with and even manipulate autophagy. Recent translational evidence has also implicated autophagy in the pathogenesis of several immune-mediated diseases, including Crohn disease. In this review, we present autophagy in the context of its role as an immune system component and effector and speculate on imminent and future research directions in this field.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Séamus
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hussey
authors.forename: Leonardo H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Travassos
authors.forename: Nicola L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D001343:Autophagy / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System; D007113:Immunity, Innate
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines