New insights into autophagy using a multiple knockout strain

Not only is autophagy the major intracellular pathway for degradation and recycling of long-lived proteins and organelles, it is also involved in both the pathogenesis and prevention of many human diseases. Much progress has been made on the identification and characterization of AuTophaGy-related (ATG) genes, in yeast and in mammals. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of autophagy remains quite limited, far from enough to harness autophagy for therapeutic applications. To better understand the molecular mechanisms, we took a unique and novel approach to study autophagy in yeast. We generated a multiple knockout Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain with 24 ATG genes deleted, and determined the minimum requirements for different aspects of autophagy. Our data also provided us with new insights into autophagy, different from those obtained from in vitro analyses. In this addendum, we briefly discuss our findings and consider fields where this multiple knockout strain can be of potential use.

Addendum to: Cao Y, Cheong H, Song H, Klionsky DJ. In vivo reconstitution of autophagy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Cell Biol 2008; 182:703-13.