Nature sub-journal: Uncovering an unknown protein plays a key role in cell autophagy

In a recent study published in the international journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, scientists at the Japan Institute of Microbiology and other institutions found that an Atg9 protein with autophagy that mediates cellular autophagy may have phospholipid translocation activity between its two lipid bimolele layers, while researchers also clarified the activity of Atg9 or the expansion of autophagy membranes. the formation of
autophagosome is an important step in determining the target for autophagosome and is one of the mechanisms for protein degradation in cells, although previous researchers have found that Atg2, as a lipid transfer protein, can transfer phospholipid molecules from the endosome mesh, but they are not clear about the molecular mechanisms that use transported phospholipid molecules to promote membrane expansion.
photo source: Nobuo N. Noda and Kazuaki Matoba In this study, researchers studied the membrane protein Atg9, which has unknown functions in humans and yeast.
They found that atg9 was able to exhibit lipid crawlase activity in in vitro trials, and when the three-dimensional structure of Atg9 was analyzed using cryoentherapy technology, the researchers found that Atg9 had a porous structure that connected two diaphragm structures to the lipid double molecular layer.
addition, this mutation in porous amino acids causes Atg9 to lose the activity of lipid crawlers in the body and inhibits the formation of autophagy in yeast.
So, in this study, researchers revealed a whole new mechanism, Atg9, or a new type of crawling enzyme that can be combined with Atg2, a lipid transfer protein, both of which may work to eventually form autophagy.
The mechanism of separation membrane expansion is a problem that scientists in the field of autophagy research have been facing, clarifying that this mechanism may help researchers accelerate the study of molecular mechanisms that fully understand autophagy formation and promote artificial control of autophagy formation mechanisms by deepening understanding of autophagy formation mechanisms, and that future scientists may be able to further study new therapies or strategies to treat and prevent the development of multiple human diseases.
original source: Kazuaki Matoba et al. Atg9 is a lipid scramblase that mediates autophagosomal membrane expansion, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41594-020-00518-w Source: Bio Valley, for more information please download Bio Valley APP (