Figure 3.

Scheme of autophagy in mammalian cells. A portion of cytoplasm is enclosed by isolation membrane to form an autophagosome. Autophagosome fuses with lysosome to degrade the inside materials. The Atg5–Atg12 conjugate localizes to the isolation membrane throughout its elongation process. LC3 is recruited to the membrane in the Atg5-dependent manner. Atg5–Atg12 dissociate from the membrane upon completion of autophagosome formation, while LC3 (-II) remains on the autophagosome membrane. Atg5 is required for elongation of the isolation membrane.