The coiled-coil domain protein EPG-8 plays an essential role in the autophagy pathway in C. elegans.
Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) involves the formation of a closed, double membrane structure, called the autophagosome. Most of the Atg proteins that are essential for autophagosome formation are evolutionarily conserved between yeast and higher eukaryotes. The functions of some Atg proteins, however, are mediated by highly divergent proteins in mammalian cells. In this study, we identified a novel coiled-coil domain protein, EPG-8, that plays an essential role in the autophagy pathway in C. elegans. Mutations in epg-8 cause defects in degradation of various autophagy substrates and also compromise survival of animals under nutrient-depletion conditions. In epg-8 mutants, lipidated LGG-1 (the C. elegans Atg8 homolog) accumulates but does not form distinct punctate structures. EPG-8 directly interacts with the C. elegans Beclin 1 homolog, BEC-1. Our study demonstrates that epg-8 may function as a highly divergent homolog of the yeast autophagy gene Atg14.
National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, China.
Peiguo
P
Yang
Hong
H
Zhang
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D018129:Phosphatidylinositol Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C557714:EPG-8 protein, C elegans; D018129:Phosphatidylinositol Phosphates; C060974:phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-triphosphate