Autophagy in Tumor Immunity.

The article discusses a report within the issue regarding cancer research by Michaud and colleagues who show chemotherapy-induced autophagy causes the release of the co-enzyme adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) from tumor cells, which stimulates anti-tumor immune responses. Michaud's team found that when the expression of the genes that encode essential autophagy proteins, ATG5 and ATG7, was reduced in immunogenic allograft mouse tumors, it blunted the release of ATP by the tumor cells. Also discussed is how tumor cell autophagy limits immune-mediated cytotoxicity and the usefulness of transgenic mouse models, deficient in autophagy, in exploring the impact of the tumor microenvironment and chemotherapy protocols on anti-tumor immune responses.