About this Research Topic
Autophagy is a process of sequestration of cytoplasmic components by double-membraned autophagosomes for degradation upon fusion with lysosomes. Autophagy is important for clearing dysfunctional or superfluous cytoplasmic components, including organelles or proteins, to promote cell survival and functions. Autophagy is a cellular process that is conserved from yeast to vertebrates. It has become clear that autophagy is involved in the regulation of multiple cellular function in humans and other mammals. In the immune system, autophagy plays a major role in the regulation of the development and functions of different cell types of the adaptive and innate immune responses.
Autophagy regulates multiple aspects of the immune response, including lymphocyte development, cell survival, and effector functions of lymphocytes during immune responses, promotion of antigen presentation, and the control of innate immunity. How different cell types in adaptive and innate immune responses engage the autophagy machinery in response to various pathogens will be important to study.
The molecular mechanisms for autophagy in the protection of lymphocytes through quality control to remove dysfunctional or superfluous proteins and organelles remain to be elucidated. The important functions of autophagy in metabolic regulation to support the energy and nutrient requirements of lymphocytes will be interesting to investigate. Additionally, autophagy plays a critical role in the maintenance of long-lived immune cells, such as memory T cells, memory B cells, and long-lived NK cells. How autophagy helps to protect the quiescence and longevity of immune memory cells is another interesting area being investigated.
Dysregulation of autophagy can contribute to immunological disorders. Defective autophagy has been linked to the development of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and it is closely linked to tumorigenesis and antitumor immunity. Understanding how defective autophagy disrupts immune regulation to cause autoimmune, inflammatory diseases, and cancer will be valuable for identifying molecular targets in the autophagy pathways for therapeutic intervention.
This Research Topic aims to cover exciting new progress in studying the roles of autophagy in the regulation of normal immune functions and diseases. We welcome the submission of Original Research, Review, and Mini Review articles covering the following subtopics:
• Autophagy in lymphocyte development
• Regulation of effector functions of lymphocytes by autophagy
• Protection of long-lived immune memory cells by autophagy
• Autophagy in metabolic regulation of T cells and B cells
• Autophagy in antigen presentation
• Autophagy in infectious diseases and vaccines
• Autophagy in tumorigenesis and antitumor immunotherapy
• Autophagy in innate immune cell differentiation and function
• Small molecule autophagy inhibitors/agonists as modulators of host immune function
Autophagy regulates multiple aspects of the immune response, including lymphocyte development, cell survival, and effector functions of lymphocytes during immune responses, promotion of antigen presentation, and the control of innate immunity. How different cell types in adaptive and innate immune responses engage the autophagy machinery in response to various pathogens will be important to study.
The molecular mechanisms for autophagy in the protection of lymphocytes through quality control to remove dysfunctional or superfluous proteins and organelles remain to be elucidated. The important functions of autophagy in metabolic regulation to support the energy and nutrient requirements of lymphocytes will be interesting to investigate. Additionally, autophagy plays a critical role in the maintenance of long-lived immune cells, such as memory T cells, memory B cells, and long-lived NK cells. How autophagy helps to protect the quiescence and longevity of immune memory cells is another interesting area being investigated.
Dysregulation of autophagy can contribute to immunological disorders. Defective autophagy has been linked to the development of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and it is closely linked to tumorigenesis and antitumor immunity. Understanding how defective autophagy disrupts immune regulation to cause autoimmune, inflammatory diseases, and cancer will be valuable for identifying molecular targets in the autophagy pathways for therapeutic intervention.
This Research Topic aims to cover exciting new progress in studying the roles of autophagy in the regulation of normal immune functions and diseases. We welcome the submission of Original Research, Review, and Mini Review articles covering the following subtopics:
• Autophagy in lymphocyte development
• Regulation of effector functions of lymphocytes by autophagy
• Protection of long-lived immune memory cells by autophagy
• Autophagy in metabolic regulation of T cells and B cells
• Autophagy in antigen presentation
• Autophagy in infectious diseases and vaccines
• Autophagy in tumorigenesis and antitumor immunotherapy
• Autophagy in innate immune cell differentiation and function
• Small molecule autophagy inhibitors/agonists as modulators of host immune function
Keywords: Autophagy, mitophagy, T cell development, memory T cells, memory B cells, antigen presentation, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, immunotherapy, vaccines, infectious diseases
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