Atg7 in development and disease: panacea or Pandora's Box?
10.1007/s13238-015-0195-8
- Author:
Jianhua XIONG
1
Author Information
1. Center for Molecular Medicine, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA. jianhua.xiong@nih.gov.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Atg7;
autophagy;
development;
disease;
mouse model
- MeSH:
Animals;
Disease;
Growth and Development;
Humans;
Organ Specificity;
Species Specificity;
Ubiquitin-Activating Enzymes;
metabolism
- From:
Protein & Cell
2015;6(10):722-734
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Macroautophagy is an evolutionarily conserved intracellular degradation system used by life ranging from yeasts to mammals. The core autophagic machinery is composed of ATG (autophagy-related) protein constituents. One particular member of the ATG protein family, Atg7, has been the focus of recent research. Atg7 acts as an E1-like activating enzyme facilitating both microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3)-phosphatidylethanolamine and ATG12 conjugation. Thus, Atg7 stands at the hub of these two ubiquitin-like systems involving LC3 and Atg12 in autophagic vesicle expansion. In this review, I focus on the pleiotropic function of Atg7 in development, maintenance of health, and alternations of such control in disease.
