Autophagy in neutrophils

ABSTRACT

Autophagy is a highly conserved intracellular degradation and energy-recycling mechanism that contributes to the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Extensive researches over the past decades have defined the role of autophagy innate immune cells. In this review, we describe the current state of knowledge regarding the role of autophagy in neutrophil biology and a picture of molecular mechanism underlying autophagy in neutrophils. Neutrophils are professional phagocytes that comprise the first line of defense against pathogen. Autophagy machineries are highly conserved in neutrophils. Autophagy is not only involved in generalized function of neutrophils such as differentiation in bone marrow but also plays crucial role effector functions of neutrophils such as granule formation, degranulation, neutrophil extracellular traps release, cytokine production, bactericidal activity and controlling inflammation. This review outlines the current understanding of autophagy in neutrophils and provides insight towards identification of novel therapeutics targeting autophagy in neutrophils.