Investigating the Role of Myeloid Cell Autophagy in Autoimmune Disease

I investigated the impact of myeloid cell-specific autophagy deficiency on symptoms of autoimmunity in the Lyn-/- mouse model of lupus-like autoimmunity. I demonstrated that ablation of autophagy in myeloid cells resulted in the decreased production of specific autoantibodies and serum levels of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10. I further investigated the role of autophagy in the modulation of IL-6 and IL-10 release from myeloid cells in vitro. My work extends our understanding of how autophagy contributes to the regulation of inflammation and offers new insights into how this may contribute to wider effects in autoimmune diseases, such as SLE.