Complement C3 and Autophagy Keep the β Cell Alive

Autophagy prevents pancreatic β cell death during obesity, although the mechanism of autophagy activation in the β cell has remained elusive. In this issue of Cell Metabolism, King et al. (2018) King B.C. Kulak K. Krus U. Rosberg R. Golec E. Wozniak K. Gomez M.F. Zhang E. O’Connell D.J. Renstr？m E. Blom A.M. Complement component C3 is highly expressed in human pancreatic islets and prevents β cell death via ATG16L1 interaction and autophagy regulation. Cell Metab. 2018; 29 ( this issue) : 202-210 Google Scholar show that intracellular complement component C3 interacts with autophagy protein ATG16L1 and protects against β cell death by stimulating autophagy