Cell Death and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Apoptosis, Necrosis, and Autophagy in the Intestinal Epithelium

Figure 2

Simplified cartoon of the integrated intestinal homeostatic mechanisms showing the interplay between cell death and innate immunity in intestinal inflammation. Abnormal bacterial sensing through NOD-like and TLR in epithelial cells and dendritic cells in addition to Paneth cell dysfunction are greatly interrelated with the unfolded protein and autophagy pathways. The resulting production of chemokines and cytokines and the activation of immune cells in the lamina propria determine further epithelial barrier defects, with additional exposure to diverse intraluminal contents, enhanced by contact with damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), in a self-perpetuating amplification loop. Figure adapted from Nunes et al. [5].