| FBA3 | |
| Project ID |  FBA3 [Protein] |
| Project Theme | Structural basis of Atg proteins essential for autophagy |
| Project Theme (short) | Autophagy related proteins |
| Principal Investigator | Fuyuhiko Inagaki |
| Affiliation | Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University |
| Backgrounds | - Cells possess a process called autophagy to degrade cell’s unnecessary components - A variety of proteins are known to be involved in the autophagy, but its processes and mechanisms remain to be elucidated - Its role in diseases including Alzheimer's disease has been suggested |
| Highlights | - Structures of several autophagy-related proteins and their complexes have been determined - Our functional analyses combined with the structural information have unveiled molecular mechanisms of autophagy |
| Outline | Autophagy is a catabolic process involving the degradation of a cell's own components through the lysosomal machinery and is well conserved from yeast to humans. It is a major mechanism by which a starving cell reallocates nutrients from unnecessary processes to more-essential processes. Its role in some diseases such as some types of neurodegeneration and cancer has been suggested. The mechanism of autophagy involves the formation of a double-membrane vesicle called an autophagosome around a targeted region of the cell, separating the contents from the rest of the cytoplasm. Numerous proteins called Atg (autophagy-related gene) proteins participate in this formation. The outer membrane of the autophagosome fuses in the cytoplasm with a lysosome to form an autolysosome where their contents are degraded via lysosomal hydrolases. Here, we will pursue structural and functional elucidation of Atg proteins and their network. |
| Review | Genes Cells Autophagy Chem. Rev. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. FEBS Lett. FEBS Lett. J Lipids |
| CSML File | FBA3.csml |