Autophagy defends cells against invading group A Streptococcus.

Nakagawa, Ichiro; Amano, Atsuo; Mizushima, Noboru; Yamamoto, Akitsugu; Yamaguchi, Hitomi; Kamimoto, Takahiro; Nara, Atsuki; Funao, Junko et al. · Science · 2004

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We found that the autophagic machinery could effectively eliminate pathogenic group A Streptococcus (GAS) within nonphagocytic cells. After escaping from endosomes into the cytoplasm, GAS became enveloped by autophagosome-like compartments and were killed upon fusion of these compartments with lysosomes. In autophagy-deficient Atg5-/- cells, GAS survived, multiplied, and were released from the cells. Thus, the autophagic machinery can act as an innate defense system against invading pathogens.

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