title: The mammalian autophagy initiator complex contains 2 HORMA domain proteins.
abstract: ATG101 is an essential component of the ULK complex responsible for initiating cellular autophagy in mammalian cells; its 3-dimensional structure and molecular function, however, are currently unclear. Here we present the X-ray structure of human ATG101. The protein displays an open HORMA domain fold. Both structural properties and biophysical evidence indicate that ATG101 is locked in this conformation, in contrast to the prototypical HORMA domain protein MAD2. Moreover, we discuss a potential mode of dimerization with ATG13 as a fundamental aspect of ATG101 function.
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Complex Systems; ICS-6: Structural Biochemistry; Forschungszentrum Jülich; Jülich , Germany.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Complex Systems; ICS-6: Structural Biochemistry; Forschungszentrum Jülich; Jülich , Germany.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwarten
authors.affiliation: b Institut für Physikalische Biologie und BMFZ; Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf ; Düsseldorf , Germany.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Decker
authors.affiliation: b Institut für Physikalische Biologie und BMFZ; Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf ; Düsseldorf , Germany.
authors.forename: Luitgard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nagel-Steger
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Complex Systems; ICS-6: Structural Biochemistry; Forschungszentrum Jülich; Jülich , Germany.|b Institut für Physikalische Biologie und BMFZ; Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf ; Düsseldorf , Germany.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Willbold
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Complex Systems; ICS-6: Structural Biochemistry; Forschungszentrum Jülich; Jülich , Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Weiergräber
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy / Q000502:physiology*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000502:physiology; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; C576915:HORMAD1 protein, human
keywords: ATG101; ATG13; MAD2; NMR spectroscopy; ULK complex; X-ray crystallography; autophagy-related proteins