Editorial: Immune cells in the mucosa

Abstract

The importance of autophagy as a key regulator of cellular homeostasis and responsiveness to stress and infection is being increasingly appreciated as reflected in the recent award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to the Japanese researcher Yoshinori Ohsumi (https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2016/ohsumi-facts.html). In the review by Kabat et al. titled “The Mucosal Immune System and Its Regulation by Autophagy,” the emerging importance of autophagy as a regulator of mucosal immunity is addressed. The pathway plays a key role in a number of aspects of intestinal immunity including epithelial barrier function and the inflammatory properties of intestinal mononuclear phagocytes. Autophagy also plays a role in the maintenance of peripheral CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and memory CD8+ T cells and influences the balance of intestinal T helper cell subsets through mechanisms related to metabolic regulation. The authors speculate that autophagy plays a key role in endowing T cells with the metabolic flexibility to adapt to challenges relating to growth factor and nutrient availability. As a result, the effects of autophagy modulation on immune responses depend on the specific cell type and tissue context. Finally, the authors address the exciting potential for therapeutic modulation of autophagy as a strategy for treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other chronic conditions