Network organization of the human autophagy system

Autophagy, the process by which proteins and organelles are sequestered in autophagosomal vesicles and delivered to the lysosome/vacuole for degradation, provides a primary route for turnover of stable and defective cellular proteins. Defects in this system are linked with numerous human diseases. While conserved protein kinase, lipid kinase, and ubiquitin-like (UBL) protein conjugation sub-networks controlling autophagosome formation and cargo recruitment have been defined, our understanding of the global organization of this system is limited. Here, we report a proteomic analysis of the autophagy interaction network (AIN) in human cells under conditions of ongoing (basal) autophagy, revealing a network of 751 interactions among 4 09 candidate interacting proteins with extensive connectivity among sub-networks. Many new AIN components have roles in vesicle trafficking, protein or lipid phosphorylation, and protein ubiquitination, and affect autophagosome number or flux when depleted by RNAi. The six ATG8 orthologs in humans (MAP1LC3/GABARAP proteins) interact with a cohort of 67 proteins, with extensive binding partner overlap between family members, and frequent involvement of a conserved surface on ATG8 proteins known to interact with LC3-interacting regions (LIR) in partner proteins. These studies provide a global view of the mammalian autophagy interaction landscape and a resource for mechanistic analysis of this critical protein homeostasis pathway.