Atg9 reservoirs, a new organelle of the yeast endomembrane system?

Despite all the advances in understanding the roles and the regulation of autophagy in health and disease realized during the past decade, the key question about the origin of the initial autophagosomal membranes remains largely unknown. Among the 16 autophagy-related (Atg) proteins composing the conserved machinery required for autophagy, Atg9 is the only integral membrane component and it is one of the first Atg proteins to be recruited to the phagophore assembly site (PAS) emphasizing its relevance in the early stages of autophagosome biogenesis. Because it is: intrinsically associated with lipid bilayers, Atg9 has all the prerequisites to be a major factor in regulating the supply of at least part of the membranes necessary for the formation and expansion of nascent autophagosomes.