Prof. Dr. Claudine Kraft (CIBSS AI), Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Freiburg
Autophagy is a conserved catabolic pathway during which various cellular components are isolated in a newly formed double membrane vesicle, called autophagosome, and finally degraded in the lytic compartment of the cell. Autophagy requires the action of the highly dynamic multimeric Atg1 kinase complex, which phospho-regulates several proteins of the autophagy machinery. This spatial and temporal phospho-regulation is essential for autophagy function and progression. It remains, however, poorly understood how phosphorylation events are controlled throughout the various stages in autophagy. We will address how dynamic kinase and phosphatase signalling controls autophagy in general. Moreover, we will address how such signalling events are integrated to precisely control mitophagy (selective degradation of mitochondria), as altered mitophagy is linked to various neurodegenerative diseases.