Roles of autophagy in HIV infection

C Dinkins, M Pilli, JH Kehrl - Immunology and cell biology, 2015 - Wiley Online Library
Immunology and cell biology, 2015Wiley Online Library
Autophagy is a major cellular pathway, which at basal levels regulates and maintains the
cytoplasmic environment through the capture, isolation and digestion of intracellular
materials in a specialized structure called an autophagosome. The unique ability of
autophagy to degrade large targets, such as damaged and surplus organelles, intracellular
microbes and protein aggregates, has made it a prime focus in inflammation and microbial
research. Indeed, autophagy has been shown to be involved in a number of infectious and …
Autophagy is a major cellular pathway, which at basal levels regulates and maintains the cytoplasmic environment through the capture, isolation and digestion of intracellular materials in a specialized structure called an autophagosome. The unique ability of autophagy to degrade large targets, such as damaged and surplus organelles, intracellular microbes and protein aggregates, has made it a prime focus in inflammation and microbial research. Indeed, autophagy has been shown to be involved in a number of infectious and inflammatory pathologies, by which it may confer protection against intracellular microbes, be targeted by microbes for evasion or be hijacked for microbe biogenesis. In addition, autophagy helps regulate the intracellular and global immune response to both extracellular and intracellular pathogens. Here we review the current literature on the interactions between autophagy and HIV among different immune cells and discuss new research that re‐emphasizes the role of inflammation in HIV‐mediated CD4+ T cell death.
Wiley Online Library