Autophagy vs. Group A Streptococcus

We have identified several mammalian protein components of the autophagy pathway. By using them as powerful tools to examine the functional significance of this degradation pathway, we recently showed that autophagy efficiently kills a pathogenic bacterium, Group A Streptococcus, after it invades host cells. However, the autophagosomes induced by these bacteria have features distinct from those of the canonical pathway.