ALW Open Programme awarded to Reggiori group

ALW Open Programme awarded to Prof. Dr. Fulvio Reggiori: Atg1 as the master regulator of autophagosome completion

Autophagy is a conserved intracellular degradative pathway that plays a key role in many physiological processes and numerous pathologies including cancer, neurodegeneration and muscular dystrophies. The key actors of this process are the autophagy-related (Atg) proteins. Upon autophagy induction, the Atg1 kinase complex is activated and phosphorylates several Atg proteins initiating the formation of the double-membrane autophagosomes, which sequester the structures targeted to destruction. Once an autophagosome is completed, its fusion with lysosomes and subsequent cargo degradation are preceded by the dissociation of most Atg proteins, a step essential for the normal progression of autophagy. The molecular bases underlying this step, however, remain unknown. The goal of this project is to unravel the mechanisms leading to the dissociation of Atg proteins from complete autophagosomes using biochemical, cell biological and genetics approaches in combination.