The RT-qPCR analysis revealed that out of seventeen autophagy regulators tested, the levels of mRNA encoding autophagy transcription factor FOXO1 and four ATG molecules (ATG4B, ATG13, ATG14, and ULK1, a mammalian homolog of ATG1), were significantly reduced in the PBMCs of GBS patients compared to control subjects (Figure 2a and Supplementary Figure S8). Here, ULK1 is linked to Guillain-Barre syndrome.