Research progress on autophagy regulating excessive inflammation

Autophagy is a highly conserved cellular self-digestion pathway, by which intracellular damaged proteins or organelles are delivered to lysosomes for degradation, so as to protect from various dangerous stimuli and maintain cellular homeostasis. Inflammation is a defensive response to injury or pathogens, through which various inflammatory mediators coordinate host defense and repair. However, uncontrolled inflammatory responses can lead to secondary damage and pathogenesis of inflammatory disease. Recent studies indicate that autophagy pathway and related proteins may play important roles in regulating immune response and controlling excessive inflammation. This review introduced research progress in the role of autophagy in regulating excessive inflammation and possible mechanisms.