Autophagy and Its Impact on Neurodegenerative Diseases: New Roles for TDP-43 and C9orf72

Autophagy is the engulfment of cytosol and organelles by double-membrane vesicles termed autophagosomes. Autophagosome formation is known to require phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI(3)P) and occurs near the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), but the exact mechanisms are unknown. We show that double FYVE domain–containing protein 1, a PI(3)P-binding protein with unusual localization on ER and Golgi membranes, translocates in response to amino acid starvation to a punctate compartment partially colocalized with autophagosomal proteins. Translocation is dependent on Vps34 and beclin function. Other PI(3)P-binding probes targeted to the ER show the same starvation-induced translocation that is dependent on PI(3)P formation and recognition. Live imaging experiments show that this punctate compartment forms near Vps34-containing vesicles, is in dynamic equilibrium with the ER, and provides a membrane platform for accumulation of autophagosomal proteins, expansion of autophagosomal membranes, and emergence of fully formed autophagosomes. This PI(3)P-enriched compartment may be involved in autophagosome biogenesis. Its dynamic relationship with the ER is consistent with the idea that the ER may provide important components for autophagosome formation.

Starvation-induced autophagosomes engulf cytosol and/or organelles and deliver them to lysosomes for degradation, thereby resupplying depleted nutrients. Despite advances in understanding the molecular basis of this process, the membrane origin of autophagosomes remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that, in starved cells, the outer membrane of mitochondria participates in autophagosome biogenesis. The early autophagosomal marker, Atg5, transiently localizes to punctae on mitochondria, followed by the late autophagosomal marker, LC3. The tail-anchor of an outer mitochondrial membrane protein also labels autophagosomes and is sufficient to deliver another outer mitochondrial membrane protein, Fis1, to autophagosomes. The fluorescent lipid NBD-PS (converted to NBD-phosphotidylethanolamine in mitochondria) transfers from mitochondria to autophagosomes. Photobleaching reveals membranes of mitochondria and autophagosomes are transiently shared. Disruption of mitochondria/ER connections by mitofusin2 depletion dramatically impairs starvation-induced autophagy. Mitochondria thus play a central role in starvation-induced autophagy, contributing membrane to autophagosomes. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Autophagy is a bulk degradation process in eukaryotic cells and has fundamental roles in cellular homeostasis.The origin and source of autophagosomal membranes are long-standing questions in the field. Using electron microscopy, we show that, in mammalian culture cells, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) associates with early autophagic structures called isolation membranes (IMs). Overexpression of an Atg4B mutant, which causes defects in autophagosome formation, induces the accumulation of ER-IM complexes. Electron tomography revealed that the ER-IM complex appears as a subdomain of the ER that formed a cradle encircling the IM, and showed that both ER and isolation membranes are interconnected.