Cited by 623Autophagy in Disease and TherapyT-cell and B-cell ImmunologyPhagocytosis and Immune Regulation

A critical role for the autophagy gene Atg5 in T cell survival and proliferation

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Pua, Heather H., Dzhagalov, Ivan, Chuck, Mariana, Mizushima, Noboru, He, You-Wen·2007·The Journal of Experimental Medicine

Abstract

Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) is a well-conserved intracellular degradation process. Recent studies examining cells lacking the autophagy genes Atg5 and Atg7 have demonstrated that autophagy plays essential roles in cell survival during starvation, in innate cell clearance of microbial pathogens, and in neural cell maintenance. However, the role of autophagy in T lymphocyte development and survival is not known. Here, we demonstrate that autophagosomes form in primary mouse T lymphocytes. By generating Atg5−/− chimeric mice, we found that Atg5-deficient T lymphocytes underwent full maturation. However, the numbers of total thymocytes and peripheral T and B lymphocytes were reduced in Atg5 chimeras. In the periphery, Atg5−/− CD8+ T lymphocytes displayed dramatically increased cell death. Furthermore, Atg5−/− CD4+ and CD8+ T cells failed to undergo efficient proliferation after TCR stimulation. These results demonstrate a critical role for Atg5 in multiple aspects of lymphocyte development and function and suggest that autophagy may be essential for both T lymphocyte survival and proliferation.

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Crossref · 10.1084/jem.20061303

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  • Some immune cell types such as dendritic cells seem to tolerate loss of autophagy fairly well, whereas others such as T and B cells are compromised in their development and function after autophagy inhibition.

    “In this respect it is noteworthy that some cell-types of the immune system such as dendritic cells 260 seem to tolerate loss of autophagy fairly well, whereas others such as T and B cells are compromised in their development and function after autophagy inhibition.757,758”

    From Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (2012) · cites this paper as [757]

    The Abstract and Results and Discussion (pages not provided) report reduced peripheral T- and B-cell numbers in Atg5-deficient chimeras and impaired T-cell proliferation, supporting developmental and functional compromise in lymphocytes. The paper does not show impaired B-cell function; it also reports that Atg5-deficient T cells underwent full maturation. The dendritic-cell comparison has a separate citation in the citing sentence and is not attributed to this paper. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Proper induction of autophagy is important for maintenance of cellular bioenergetics and sustained T cell viability after activation.

    “Proper induction of autophagy has been shown to be important for the maintenance of cellular bioenergetics and sustained T cell viability after activation (25, 26).”

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Authors
Pua, H. H., Dzhagalov, I., Chuck, M., Mizushima, N., & He, Y.-W.
Affiliations
  • Duke Medical Center (US)
  • Japan Science and Technology Agency (JP)
Venue
The Journal of Experimental Medicine
Published
2006-12-26
Volume
204
Issue
1
Pages
25-31
ISSN
  • 0022-1007 (ISSN-L)
  • 1540-9538
OpenAlex
W2154663531
Cited by
622
References
29
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 39 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 42 · 2012: 55
FWCI
19.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Journal of Experimental Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Cancer Institute (R01CA092123, CA92123)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P30DK040561)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Phagocytosis and Immune Regulation
Keywords
autophagy, ATG5, ATG7, T cell proliferation, T cell development, autophagosomes, CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, T cell receptor stimulation, lymphocyte apoptosis, chimeric mice
MeSH terms
Autophagy-Related Protein 5, Animals, Autophagy, Base Sequence, Cell Differentiation, Cell Survival, Female, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Microtubule-Associated Proteins, Pregnancy, Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, T-Lymphocytes, Fetal Tissue Transplantation, DNA Primers, Transplantation Chimera, Mice, Knockout, Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Cell Proliferation, Mice

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