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Updated: Oct 17, 2025

Exploring the Regulation of Lipid Droplet Catabolism through Lipophagy
Published on: January 31, 2025
A new type of membrane contact in the ER-Golgi system regulates autophagosome biogenesis
Shulin Li1, Min Zhang2, Liang Ge1
1The State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Tsinghua University-Peking University Joint Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Formation of the double-membrane autophagosome requires membrane reorganization of the endomembrane system to generate membrane precursors. The ER-Golgi trafficking system has been shown to provide membranes for phagophore growth. Nonetheless, how the components of the ER-Golgi system are redirected toward autophagosome biogenesis remains unclear. Here, we identify a new type of membrane contact formed between the ER-Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC) and the ER-exit sites (ERES) under macroautophagy/autophagy-induction conditions. The ERGIC-ERES contact is established by the TMED9-PREB/SEC12 interaction and regulates the biogenesis of the ERGIC-COPII vesicles, which we found previously act as a membrane template for LC3 lipidation and autophagosome formation.
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