title: Autophagy side of MB21D1/cGAS DNA sensor.
abstract: The MB21D1/cGAS (Mab-21 domain-containing 1/cyclic GMP-AMP [cGAMP] synthetase), acts as an intracellular pattern recognition receptor (PPR) to sense cytosolic pathogen DNAs and subsequently generates the second messenger cGAMP to initiate the TMEM173/STING pathway for interferon (IFN) production. Intriguingly, we have recently demonstrated crosstalk between the intracellular DNA sensing pathway and autophagy machinery by demonstrating a direct interaction between the MB21D1 DNA sensor and the BECN1/Beclin 1 autophagy protein. This interaction not only suppresses MB21D1 enzymatic activity to halt cGAMP production, but also enhances the autophagy-mediated degradation of cytosolic microbial DNAs. This demonstrates that MB21D1 is the molecular link between the intracellular DNA sensing pathway and the autophagy pathway, ultimately developing well-balanced immune responses against pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Keck School of Medicine; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA.
authors.forename: Qiming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Keck School of Medicine; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA.
authors.forename: Gil Ju
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Keck School of Medicine; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA; Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences; School of Pharmacy; University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA USA.
authors.forename: Youn Jung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Keck School of Medicine; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA.
authors.forename: Jianning
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Keck School of Medicine; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA.
authors.forename: Mary A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rodgers
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Keck School of Medicine; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA.
authors.forename: Mude
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Keck School of Medicine; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA; Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences; School of Pharmacy; University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA USA.
authors.forename: Jae U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D004247:DNA / Q000276:immunology*; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D004247:DNA; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases
keywords: Beclin 1; autophagy; cGAS; interferon