title: A vitamin for autophagy.
abstract: Recent discoveries have revealed the importance of the vitamin D-dependent generation of antimicrobial peptides in human host defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Now, Yuk et al. (2009) show how vitamin D induces autophagy and mediates colocalization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and antimicrobial peptides within an autophagolysosome, leading to killing of the bacterium.
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-3075, USA.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fabri
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Modlin
mesh_terms: D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects*; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000502:physiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D002762:Cholecalciferol