Digest this! A role for autophagy in controlling pathogens

Abstract

Autophagy provides a mechanism for cells to conserve nutrients, but was recently associated with immunity to intracellular pathogens. Here, Zhao et al. (2008) present direct in vivo evidence that autophagy is linked to macrophage control of Toxoplasma gondii and Listeria monocytogenes and highlights that this process intersects with cytokine-mediated antimicrobial responses.