Activation of innate, antigen-unspecific effector immunological mechanisms in mammals pro- ceeds on different levels of molecular phenomena in an infected cell. One of such an important, although only partly recognized processes which take part in the elimination of infections caused by viruses and intracellular bacteria is autophagy. The process is activated through the above mentioned infectious agents, autophagic vacuoles sequester bacteria, and viruses delivering them to lysosomal degradation.