Fig. 5.

Autophagy-mediated prevention of autoimmunity. Autophagy is required for DCs to be able to efficiently present peptides on MHC class II molecules. Regulatory T cells (T_regs) are important components in mechanisms of peripheral tolerance that control the development of autoimmune diseases. Inhibitory receptor CTLA4 on Foxp3⁺ T_regs suppresses the autophagy machinery in DCs, leading to decreased turnover of peptide–MHC class II complexes and decreased stimulation of peptide–specific T cell responses, resulting in the amelioration of autoimmune responses