<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> Autophagy is a catabolic mechanism in the cell that involves the degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components by the lysosomal machinery. Recent studies have indicated that autophagy is a source of autoantigens, thus highlighting its potential role in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity. There are at least three different forms of autophagy: macroautophagy, microautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA). The physiological role of autophagy is to maintain cellular homeostasis by removing long-lived, damaged proteins and dysfunctional organelles and by providing energy. Aberrant autophagy may contribute to chronic inflammatory diseases and autoimmune diseases.</p><p>An understanding of the complex relationships between autophagy and autophagy-related genes in each autoimmune disease creates the possibility of developing more specific and effective therapeutic strategies. Given the importance of autophagy in immune functions, this review article summarises current knowledge about the role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.</p></abstract>

Autophagy is a catabolic mechanism in the cell that involves the degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components by the lysosomal machinery. Recent studies have indicated that autophagy is a source of autoantigens, thus highlighting its potential role in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity. There are at least three different forms of autophagy: macroautophagy, microautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA). The physiological role of autophagy is to maintain cellular homeostasis by removing long-lived, damaged proteins and dysfunctional organelles and by providing energy. Aberrant autophagy may contribute to chronic inflammatory diseases and autoimmune diseases.An understanding of the complex relationships between autophagy and autophagy-related genes in each autoimmune disease creates the possibility of developing more specific and effective therapeutic strategies. Given the importance of autophagy in immune functions, this review article summarises current knowledge about the role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.

The Role of Autophagy in Immunity and Autoimmune Diseases / Uloga Autofagije U Imunskom Odgovoru I Autoimunskim Bolestima

Centre for Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia

Institute for Microbilogy and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Univesity of Belgrade, Serbia

Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia

Experimental and Applied Biomedical Research (EABR)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Autophagy is a catabolic mechanism in the cell that involves the degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components by the lysosomal machinery....

The Role of Autophagy in Immunity and Autoimmune Diseases / Uloga Autofagije U Imunskom Odgovoru I Autoimunskim Bolestima

Published Online: Dec 30, 2014

Page range: 223 - 229

Received: Aug 19, 2014

Accepted: Sep 23, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjecr-2014-0028

Keywords
Autophagy, Autoimmune diseases, mTOR, ATG16L1

© 2015

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Role of Autophagy in Immunity and Autoimmune Diseases / Uloga Autofagije U Imunskom Odgovoru I Autoimunskim Bolestima

Published Online: Dec 30, 2014

Page range: 223 - 229

Received: Aug 19, 2014

Accepted: Sep 23, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjecr-2014-0028

KeywordsAutophagy, Autoimmune diseases, mTOR, ATG16L1

© 2015

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Autophagy, Autoimmune diseases, mTOR, ATG16L1