Title: If you only have time to attend one talk today on autophagy, this is the one.

Daniel J. Klionsky

Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A., 48109-2216

Abstract:

Autophagy is a ubiquitous process used for subcellular degradation and cellular remodeling. During macroautophagy, a cytosolic double-membrane vesicle sequesters a portion of the cytoplasm, including entire organelles, and delivers this cargo to the lysosome (the vacuole in yeast) for subsequent breakdown and recycling of the resulting macromolecules. Autophagy plays an important role during conditions of nutrient limitation, but it also functions in tumor suppression, the immune response, the prevention of certain types of neurodegeneration and some digestive diseases.

Over thirty genes have been identified in fungi that are specific to autophagy-related pathways, and homologues for many of these genes have been identified in higher eukaryotes. Although some of the detailed mechanism of autophagy has been elucidated, there are still many questions concerning the molecular basis of the pathway that remain unanswered. For example, relatively little is known about the mechanism of sequestering vesicle formation that is the morphological and functional hallmark of this process. We have been analyzing the molecular components involved in autophagy-related pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The insight we gain from understanding the functional and regulatory aspects of autophagy in the genetically tractable yeast system will provide additional direction for analyses in higher eukaryotes.

Supported by NIH Public Health Service grant GM53396.

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