Autophagosomes are double-membrane vesicles newly formed during autophagy to engulf a wide range of intracellular material and transport this autophagic cargo to lysosomes (or vacuoles in yeasts and ...plants) for subsequent degradation. Autophagosome biogenesis responds to a plethora of signals and involves unique and dynamic membrane processes. Autophagy is an important cellular mechanism allowing the cell to meet various demands, and its disruption compromises homeostasis and leads to various diseases, including metabolic disorders, neurodegeneration and cancer. Thus, not surprisingly, the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms governing autophagosome biogenesis has attracted considerable interest. Key molecules and organelles involved in autophagosome biogenesis, including autophagy-related (ATG) proteins and the endoplasmic reticulum, have been discovered, and their roles and relationships have been investigated intensely. However, several fundamental questions, such as what supplies membranes/lipids to build the autophagosome and how the membrane nucleates, expands, bends into a spherical shape and finally closes, have proven difficult to address. Nonetheless, owing to recent studies with new approaches and technologies, we have begun to unveil the mechanisms underlying these processes on a molecular level. We now know that autophagosome biogenesis is a highly complex process, in which multiple proteins and lipids from various membrane sources, supported by the formation of membrane contact sites, cooperate with biophysical phenomena, including membrane shaping and liquid-liquid phase separation, to ensure seamless segregation of the autophagic cargo. Together, these studies pave the way to obtaining a holistic view of autophagosome biogenesis.
A key event in autophagy is autophagosome formation, whereby the newly synthesized isolation membrane (IM) expands to form a complete autophagosome using endomembrane-derived lipids. Atg2 physically ...links the edge of the expanding IM with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a role that is essential for autophagosome formation. However, the molecular function of Atg2 during ER-IM contact remains unclear, as does the mechanism of lipid delivery to the IM. Here we show that the conserved amino-terminal region of Schizosaccharomyces pombe Atg2 includes a lipid-transfer-protein-like hydrophobic cavity that accommodates phospholipid acyl chains. Atg2 bridges highly curved liposomes, thereby facilitating efficient phospholipid transfer in vitro, a function that is inhibited by mutations that impair autophagosome formation in vivo. These results suggest that Atg2 acts as a lipid-transfer protein that supplies phospholipids for autophagosome formation.
Autophagy is an intracellular degradation system that is present in most eukaryotes. In the process of autophagy, double membrane vesicles called autophagosomes sequester a wide variety of cellular ...constituents and deliver them to lytic organelles: lysosomes in mammals and vacuoles in yeast and plants. Although autophagy used to be considered a non-selective process in its target sequestration into autophagosomes, recent studies have revealed that autophagosomes can also selectively sequester certain proteins and organelles that have become unnecessary or harmful for the cell. We recently discovered that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is degraded by autophagy in a selective manner in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and identified “receptor proteins” that play pivotal roles in this “ER-phagy” pathway. Moreover, several ER-phagy receptors in mammalian cells have also been reported. This report provides an overview of our current knowledge on ER-phagy and discuss their mechanisms, physiological roles, and possible links to human diseases.
A hallmark of autophagy is the de novo formation of double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes, which sequester various cellular constituents for degradation in lysosomes or vacuoles. The ...membrane dynamics underlying the biogenesis of autophagosomes, including the origin of the autophagosomal membrane, are still elusive. Although previous studies suggested that COPII vesicles are closely associated with autophagosome biogenesis, it remains unclear whether these vesicles serve as a source of the autophagosomal membrane. Using a recently developed COPII vesicle-labeling system in fluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy in the budding yeast
, we show that the transmembrane cargo Axl2 is loaded into COPII vesicles in the ER. Axl2 is then transferred to autophagosome intermediates, ultimately becoming part of autophagosomal membranes. This study provides a definitive answer to a long-standing, fundamental question regarding the mechanisms of autophagosome formation by implicating COPII vesicles as a membrane source for autophagosomes.
The biogenesis of double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes, which sequester and transport intracellular material for degradation in lysosomes or vacuoles, is a central event in autophagy. This ...process requires a unique set of factors called autophagy-related (Atg) proteins. The Atg proteins assemble to organize the preautophagosomal structure (PAS), at which a cup-shaped membrane, the isolation membrane (or phagophore), forms and expands to become the autophagosome. The molecular mechanism of autophagosome biogenesis remains poorly understood. Previous studies have shown that Atg2 forms a complex with the phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI3P)-binding protein Atg18 and localizes to the PAS to initiate autophagosome biogenesis; however, the molecular function of Atg2 remains unknown. In this study, we show that Atg2 has two membrane-binding domains in the N- and C-terminal regions and acts as a membrane tether during autophagosome formation in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. An amphipathic helix in the C-terminal region binds to membranes and facilitates Atg18 binding to PI3P to target the Atg2-Atg18 complex to the PAS. The N-terminal region of Atg2 is also involved in the membrane binding of this protein but is dispensable for the PAS targeting of the Atg2-Atg18 complex. Our data suggest that this region associates with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and is responsible for the formation of the isolation membrane at the PAS. Based on these results, we propose that the Atg2-Atg18 complex tethers the PAS to the ER to initiate membrane expansion during autophagosome formation.
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is selectively degraded by autophagy (ER-phagy) through proteins called ER-phagy receptors. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Atg40 acts as an ER-phagy receptor to sequester ...ER fragments into autophagosomes by binding Atg8 on forming autophagosomal membranes. During ER-phagy, parts of the ER are morphologically rearranged, fragmented, and loaded into autophagosomes, but the mechanism remains poorly understood. Here we find that Atg40 molecules assemble in the ER membrane concurrently with autophagosome formation via multivalent interaction with Atg8. Atg8-mediated super-assembly of Atg40 generates highly-curved ER regions, depending on its reticulon-like domain, and supports packing of these regions into autophagosomes. Moreover, tight binding of Atg40 to Atg8 is achieved by a short helix C-terminal to the Atg8-family interacting motif, and this feature is also observed for mammalian ER-phagy receptors. Thus, this study significantly advances our understanding of the mechanisms of ER-phagy and also provides insights into organelle fragmentation in selective autophagy of other organelles.
Recent studies have revealed that even the nucleus can be degraded by selective macroautophagy (hereafter macronucleophagy). In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the nuclear envelope (NE) protein Atg39 acts ...as a macronucleophagy receptor that mediates sequestration of nucleus-derived double-membrane vesicles (NDVs) into phagophores. The outer and inner membranes of these NDVs are derived from the outer and inner nuclear membranes (ONM and INM), respectively, and the lumen contains nucleoplasmic material. Little was known about the mechanisms underlying macronucleophagy, including how the two nuclear membranes are coordinately deformed to generate NDVs and what nuclear components are preferentially loaded into or rather eliminated from NDVs. We found that Atg39 links the ONM and INM through the ONM-embedded transmembrane domain and INM-associated amphipathic helices (APHs). These APHs are important for Atg39 anchoring to the NE and autophagosome formation-coupled Atg39 clustering in the NE. In addition, the overaccumulation of Atg39 in the NE caused NE protrusion toward the cytoplasm depending on the APHs. These results allowed us to propose the mechanism by which Atg39 conducts NDV formation in coordination with autophagosome formation during macronucleophagy.
Eukaryotic cells have evolved different modes of autophagy, including macroautophagy and microautophagy, to deliver their own components to lysosomes or vacuoles for degradation. While an increasing ...body of research has established that autophagy plays pivotal roles for the maintenance and regulation of various cellular constituents, recent studies have begun to reveal that parts of the nucleus, for example, nucleus-derived vesicles and nuclear proteins, also become targets of autophagic degradation in different physiological or pathological contexts, including nutrient deprivation, defective nuclear pore complex (NPC) assembly, DNA damage, cellular senescence, and oncogenic insults. Here, we overview our current knowledge on the mechanisms and physiological roles of these ‘nucleophagy’ pathways and discuss their possible interplays and remaining issues.
Certain nuclear components are selectively degraded via different modes of autophagy termed macronucleophagy and micronucleophagy.In yeast, nucleus-derived vesicles, nuclear pore complexes, and nucleoporins are degraded by macro- and/or micronucleophagy.In mammals, lamins bound to heterochromatin domains and a sirtuin are recognized by the autophagy protein LC3 within the nucleus and targeted to macronucleophagy.Different nucleophagy pathways could interplay in degradation of nuclear components.Nucleophagy research has just begun to develop; future studies will reveal diverse modes of nucleophagy and their mechanisms, physiological roles, and links to human diseases.
Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) degrades various intracellular constituents to regulate a wide range of cellular functions, and is also closely linked to several human diseases. ...In selective autophagy, receptor proteins recognize degradation targets and direct their sequestration by double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes, which transport them into lysosomes or vacuoles. Although recent studies have shown that selective autophagy is involved in quality/quantity control of some organelles, including mitochondria and peroxisomes, it remains unclear how extensively it contributes to cellular organelle homeostasis. Here we describe selective autophagy of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and nucleus in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We identify two novel proteins, Atg39 and Atg40, as receptors specific to these pathways. Atg39 localizes to the perinuclear ER (or the nuclear envelope) and induces autophagic sequestration of part of the nucleus. Atg40 is enriched in the cortical and cytoplasmic ER, and loads these ER subdomains into autophagosomes. Atg39-dependent autophagy of the perinuclear ER/nucleus is required for cell survival under nitrogen-deprivation conditions. Atg40 is probably the functional counterpart of FAM134B, an autophagy receptor for the ER in mammals that has been implicated in sensory neuropathy. Our results provide fundamental insight into the pathophysiological roles and mechanisms of 'ER-phagy' and 'nucleophagy' in other organisms.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Autophagy is a fundamental function of eukaryotic cells and is well conserved from yeast to humans. The most remarkable feature of autophagy is the synthesis of double membrane-bound compartments ...that sequester materials to be degraded in lytic compartments, a process that seems to be mechanistically distinct from conventional membrane traffic. The discovery of autophagy in yeast and the genetic tractability of this organism have allowed us to identify genes that are responsible for this process, which has led to the explosive growth of this research field seen today. Analyses of autophagy-related (Atg) proteins have unveiled dynamic and diverse aspects of mechanisms that underlie membrane formation during autophagy.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
PDF
