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Updated: Dec 8, 2025

Quantification of Efferocytosis by Single-cell Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: August 18, 2018
EIF2α phosphorylation: a hallmark of both autophagy and immunogenic cell death
Juliette Humeau1,2, Lucillia Bezu1,2,3, Oliver Kepp1,2
1Equipe Labellisée Par La Ligue Contre Le Cancer, Université De Paris, Sorbonne Université, INSERM UMR1138, Centre De Recherche Des Cordeliers, Paris, France.
Abstract:
Different intrinsic and extrinsic stress pathways including endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress converge on the phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2A (EIF2A, best known as eIF2α), which characterizes the so-called "integrated stress response". This phosphorylation event is important for the induction of autophagy in response to multiple distinct stressors, as well as for the exposure of calreticulin (CALR) as an "eat me" signal on the surface of the plasma membrane of stressed cells. Both autophagy and CALR exposure are required for immunogenic cell death, a modality of cellular demise that ignites anticancer and antiviral immune responses. In several different cancer types, eIF2α phosphorylation indicates favorable prognosis, correlating with an enhanced antitumor immune response.
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