July 5, 2017
In collaboration with Prof. Eric Baehrecke and colleagues, we report in Cell a novel role for the thioester-containing protein Mcr (macroglobulin-complement related) in the regulation of autophagy-dependent cell death and inflammation in Drosophila. This function of Mcr involves the immune receptor Draper, suggesting a relationship between autophagy and the control of inflammation. Intriguingly, addition of recombinant Mcr to the culture medium initiates autophagy in cultured Drosophila cells. Congratulations to first author Lin Lin, Frederico Rodrigues, Christina Kary and Alicia Contet who performed these experiments! Click here to access the article through PubMed