Dual-function cytokines as modulators of autophagy: reprogramming inflammatory resolution in severe COVID-19

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and systemic immune-mediated damage are two of the severe COVID-19 outcomes that are primarily caused by cytokine storms triggered by dysregulated immune responses. The limited benefits of current immunosuppressive treatments highlight the need for mechanistic understanding to direct focused interventions.

The dual functions of cytokines in controlling autophagy during SARS-CoV-2 infection are examined in this review, along with the potential for autophagy modulation to limit hyperinflammation and restore immune homeostasis.

Emerging evidence suggests that autophagy critically modulates the balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in COVID-19. Through anti-inflammatory feedback mechanisms, cytokines contribute to resolution while promoting inflammation in the early stages. The IRE1α-XBP1 axis is activated by SARS-CoV-2-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress, which increases cytokine production and modifies autophagic flux. Concurrently, extracellular vesicles containing cytokines, damage-associated molecular patterns, and viral components are released as secretory autophagy reroutes cytoplasmic cargo toward multivesicular bodies and amphisomes, increasing paracrine immune activation. Suppressed degradative autophagy and increased secretory autophagy-mediated inflammatory signaling are the hallmarks of this pathological state.

In severe COVID-19, targeted autophagy restoration is a promising therapeutic approach to restore immune responses, reduce excessive inflammation, and encourage the resolution of cytokine storms. Restoring immune homeostasis through more targeted immunointerventions may be made possible by modifying autophagy pathways.