Autophagy is increasingly recognized not just as a simple cellular recycling mechanism but as a pivotal player in cellular communication, affecting everything from secretion processes in health to disease contexts including cancer, infections, and neurodegeneration. The involvement of autophagy in cellular secretions has been corroborated through its impact on a variety of soluble immune modulators such as IL-1β, IL-6, and CXCL2 among others. Furthermore, autophagy's role in the formation and secretion of extracellular vesicles aligns it more closely with immune regulation, sharing several molecular pathways and mechanisms of vesicle degradation and secretion with other cell processes such as apoptotic and secretory autophagy. Yet, despite these advancements, the full scope of autophagy's influence on immune responses, particularly through cell-to-cell communication, remains underexplored especially in pathological settings beyond the proximal cell environment.This Research Topic aims to deepen the understanding of how autophagy influences paracrine and distal cellular interactions in both normal and disease states. Focus will be primarily on elucidating the molecular and cellular pathways that govern autophagy's roles in the secretion of immune modulators and extracellular vesicles. We are particularly interested in how these interactions can be leveraged to better understand physiological processes and enhance therapeutic approaches in various diseases.To gather further insights in this dynamic field, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- Molecular mechanisms driving the interaction between autophagy, immune responses, and cellular communication.- Human cohort studies and meta-analyses exploring expressions of genes and proteins along with comparative in vivo and in vitro analyses of health and disease models.- Innovations in therapies targeting modulation of soluble factors and vesicular secretions to regulate immune responses and autophagy.- Evaluation of new therapeutic strategies that exploit autophagy and cellular secretions to modulate the immune system.The Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.
Autophagy is increasingly recognized not just as a simple cellular recycling mechanism but as a pivotal player in cellular communication, affecting everything from secretion processes in health to disease contexts including cancer, infections, and neurodegeneration. The involvement of autophagy in cellular secretions has been corroborated through its impact on a variety of soluble immune modulators such as IL-1β, IL-6, and CXCL2 among others. Furthermore, autophagy's role in the formation and secretion of extracellular vesicles aligns it more closely with immune regulation, sharing several molecular pathways and mechanisms of vesicle degradation and secretion with other cell processes such as apoptotic and secretory autophagy. Yet, despite these advancements, the full scope of autophagy's influence on immune responses, particularly through cell-to-cell communication, remains underexplored especially in pathological settings beyond the proximal cell environment.This Research Topic aims to deepen the understanding of how autophagy influences paracrine and distal cellular interactions in both normal and disease states. Focus will be primarily on elucidating the molecular and cellular pathways that govern autophagy's roles in the secretion of immune modulators and extracellular vesicles. We are particularly interested in how these interactions can be leveraged to better understand physiological processes and enhance therapeutic approaches in various diseases.To gather further insights in this dynamic field, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- Molecular mechanisms driving the interaction between autophagy, immune responses, and cellular communication.- Human cohort studies and meta-analyses exploring expressions of genes and proteins along with comparative in vivo and in vitro analyses of health and disease models.- Innovations in therapies targeting modulation of soluble factors and vesicular secretions to regulate immune responses and autophagy.- Evaluation of new therapeutic strategies that exploit autophagy and cellular secretions to modulate the immune system.The Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.