Autophagy Vesicle Elongation (Atg12 Conjugation) Antibody Sampler Kit #32345

Autophagy is a catabolic process for the autophagosomic-lysosomal degradation of bulk cytoplasmic contents (1,2). Autophagy is generally activated by conditions of nutrient deprivation but has also been associated with a number of physiological processes including development, differentiation, neurodegeneration, infection, and cancer (3). The molecular machinery of autophagy was largely discovered in yeast and referred to as autophagy-related (Atg) genes. Formation of the autophagosome involves a ubiquitin-like conjugation system in which Atg12 is covalently bound to Atg5 and targeted to autophagosome vesicles (4-6). This conjugation reaction is mediated by the ubiquitin E1-like enzyme Atg7 and the E2-like enzyme Atg10 (7,8). Atg16L1 binds Atg5 of the Atg12-Atg5 conjugate forming an 800 kDa multimeric complex (9). The Atg12-Atg-5-Atg16L1 complex localizes to pre-autophagosomal membranes where it determines the site of LC3 lipidation and catalyzes the reaction required for the formation of mature autophagosomes (9,10).