Figure 2.

(Color online) The mechanism of target recognition, initiation of autophagosome formation, and target sequestration into the autophagosome. Cellular components targeted to selective autophagy are first recognized by “autophagy receptors”. These receptors interact with the adaptor proteins Atg11 in yeast or probably FIP200 in mammals, which recruits the core Atg proteins, initiating autophagosome formation on the degradation target. The receptors also bind to Atg8 family proteins (Atg8 in yeast and LC3s and GABARAPs in mammals) which are anchored to forming autophagosomal membranes via conjugation to phosphatidylethanolamine, leading to the efficient sequestration of the degradation target into the autophagosome.