Autophagy is an important process which maintains cellular homeostasis under stressful conditions such as starvation and pathogenic invasion. Previous observations have indicated that several cytokines are important regulators of the autophagic process. Among the various cytokines, IL-10 has a unique property which functions to suppress overall immunity. However, the functional role of IL-10 during the autophagic process has not been studied. In this study, we examined the effect of IL-10 during starvation induced autophagy of murine macrophages (J774). The results clearly indicated that IL-10 and IL-10 receptor signaling inhibits autophagy induction of murine macrophage. Further experiments revealed that IL-10 activates the class I phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, which results in the phosphorylation of p70S6K through the activation of Akt and a mammalian target of the rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC 1). These results will advance our understanding of the physiological function of IL-10 during the autophagic process of macrophage.
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