"T. gondii" also has the ability to initiate autophagy of the host's cells. This leads to a decrease in healthy, uninfected cells, and consequently fewer host cells to attack the infected cells. Research by Wang "et al" finds that infected cells lead to higher levels of autophagosomes in normal and infected cells. Their research reveals that "T. gondii" causes host cell autophagy using a calcium-dependent pathway. Another study suggests that the parasite can directly affect calcium being released from calcium stores, which are important for the signalling processes of cells.