Digest this! A role for autophagy in controlling pathogens

Cell Host Microbe. 2008 Nov 13;4(5):413-4

Digest this! A role for autophagy in controlling pathogens

Whitmarsh RJ, Hunter CA.

Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 380 South University Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

Autophagy provides a mechanism for cells to conserve nutrients, but was recently associated with immunity to intracellular pathogens. Here, Zhao et al. (2008) present direct in vivo evidence that autophagy is linked to macrophage control of Toxoplasma gondii and Listeria monocytogenes and highlights that this process intersects with cytokine-mediated antimicrobial responses.

PMID: 18996340 [PubMed - in process]