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. 2023 Apr 12;30(6):1416–1429. doi: 10.1038/s41418-023-01162-9

Fig. 1. Autophagy in mammalian cells and the essential protein complexes.

Fig. 1

Following the induction of the ULK1 complex, which phosphorylates and activates PtdIns3K complex I, nucleation of the phagophore occurs. The expansion is facilitated by the two ubiquitin-like systems, which mediate the formation of the ATG12–ATG5-ATG16L1 complex and the conjugation of Atg8-family proteins with PE. When the expanding membrane closes and a complete autophagosome is generated, the outer membrane will fuse with the lysosome and forms an autolysosome; potential fusion with an endosome to generate an intermediate amphisome is not depicted for simplicity. The cargo within the autophagosome will subsequently be degraded and recycled.