Autophagy and microbial pathogenesis

Area of Science:

• Cell Biology
• Immunology
• Microbiology

Background:

• Autophagy is a cellular process vital for resilience against environmental challenges, including infectious agents.
• The autophagy pathway plays a central role in host-microbe interactions, influencing the outcome of infections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the multifaceted role of autophagy in microbial pathogenesis at the organismal level.
• To highlight how cellular-level autophagy observations inform pathogenesis studies and host-microbe interactions.

Main Methods:

• Review of molecular studies on autophagy's interaction with intracellular pathogens (e.g., viruses).
• Analysis of findings from animal models regarding autophagy's role in host immunity against extracellular microbes.
• Examination of autophagy's impact on gut microbiota adaptation and chronic inflammatory diseases.

Main Results:

• Autophagy can suppress or enhance the fitness of infectious agents, particularly intracellular pathogens.
• Autophagy's role extends from cellular defense to organismal immunity, affecting both intracellular and extracellular microbes.
• Autophagy influences gut microbiota and has implications for chronic disorders like inflammatory bowel disease.

Conclusions:

• Autophagy is a key regulator of inflammatory responses to microbes, impacting host-pathogen dynamics.
• Distinguishing autophagy from related pathways like LC3-associated phagocytosis remains a challenge.
• Future research directions include further elucidating autophagy's role in pathogenesis and host-microbe interactions.