Paneth cells as a site of origin for intestinal inflammation

Variation in ATG16L1, a protein involved in autophagy, confers risk for Crohn’s disease, but mice with hypomorphic ATG16L1 activity do not develop spontaneous intestinal inflammation; this study shows that autophagy compensates for endoplasmic reticulum stress — common in inflammatory bowel disease epithelium — specifically in Paneth cells, with Crohn’s-disease-like inflammation of the ileum originating from this cell type when both pathways are compromised.