Lymphocyte Autophagy in Homeostasis, Activation, and Inflammatory Diseases

Autophagy is a catabolic mechanism, allowing the degradation of cytoplasmic content via lysosomal activity. Several forms of autophagy are described in mammals. Macroautophagy leads to integration of cytoplasmic portions into vesicles named autophagosomes that ultimately fuse with lysosomes. Chaperone-mediated autophagy is in contrast the direct translocation of protein in lysosomes. Macroautophagy is central to lymphocyte homeostasis. Although its role is controversial in lymphocyte development and in naive cell survival, it seems particularly involved in the maintenance of certain lymphocyte subtypes. Its importance in memory B and T cells biology has recently emerged. Moreover, some effector cells like plasma cells rely on autophagy for survival. Autophagy is central to glucose and lipid metabolism, and to the maintenance of organelles like mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. In addition macroautophagy, or individual components of its machinery, are also actors in antigen presentation by B cells, a crucial step to receive help from T cells, this crosstalk favoring their final differentiation into memory or plasma cells. Autophagy is deregulated in several autoimmune or autoinflammatory diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn’s disease. Some treatments used in these pathologies impact autophagic activity, even if the causal link between autophagy regulation and the efficiency of the treatments has not yet been clearly established. In this review, we will first discuss the mechanisms linking autophagy to lymphocyte subtype survival and the signaling pathways involved. Finally, potential impacts of autophagy modulation in lymphocytes on the course of these diseases will be approached.