Autophagy and Immune Senescence

With extension of the average lifespan, aging has become a heavy burden in society. Immune senescence is a key risk factor for many age-related diseases such as cancer and increased infections in the elderly, and hence has elicited much attention in recent years. As our body's guardian, the immune system maintains systemic health through removal of pathogens and damage. Autophagy is an important cellular ‘clearance’ process by which a cell internally delivers damaged organelles and macromolecules to lysosomes for degradation. Here, we discuss the most current knowledge of how impaired autophagy can lead to cellular and immune senescence. We also provide an overview, with examples, of the clinical potential of exploiting autophagy to delay immune senescence and/or rejuvenate immunity to treat various age-related diseases.

TrendsAutophagy is an important quality control mechanism to maintain cytoplasmic health and cellular homeostasis.Autophagy is impaired during aging in various tissues across species including mammalian immune cells. With age, several key autophagy-regulating pathways shown to be important in rejuvenation or delayed aging are altered.Autophagy-deficient immune cells show multiple aging phenotypes. Autophagy induction improves immune responses against microbial infections in the elderly.Immune senescence is a risk factor for many late-onset diseases, such as cancer. Autophagy has emerged as a novel target for the prevention and/or treatment of some of these diseases.