Autophagy is the engulfment of cytosol and organelles by double-membrane vesicles termed autophagosomes. Autophagosome formation is known to require phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI(3)P) and occurs near the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), but the exact mechanisms are unknown. We show that double FYVE domain–containing protein 1, a PI(3)P-binding protein with unusual localization on ER and Golgi membranes, translocates in response to amino acid starvation to a punctate compartment partially colocalized with autophagosomal proteins. Translocation is dependent on Vps34 and beclin function. Other PI(3)P-binding probes targeted to the ER show the same starvation-induced translocation that is dependent on PI(3)P formation and recognition. Live imaging experiments show that this punctate compartment forms near Vps34-containing vesicles, is in dynamic equilibrium with the ER, and provides a membrane platform for accumulation of autophagosomal proteins, expansion of autophagosomal membranes, and emergence of fully formed autophagosomes. This PI(3)P-enriched compartment may be involved in autophagosome biogenesis. Its dynamic relationship with the ER is consistent with the idea that the ER may provide important components for autophagosome formation.

We show that matrices carrying the tethered homologs of natural phosphoinositides can be used to capture and display multiple phosphoinositide binding proteins in cell and tissue extracts. We present the mass spectrometric identification of over 20 proteins isolated by this method, mostly from leukocyte extracts: they include known and novel proteins with established phosphoinositide binding domains and also known proteins with surprising and unusual phosphoinositide binding properties. One of the novel PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 binding proteins, ARAP3, has an unusual domain structure, including five predicted PH domains. We show that it is a specific PtdIns(3,4,5)P3/PtdIns(3,4)P2-stimulated Arf6 GAP both in vitro and in vivo, and both its Arf GAP and Rho GAP domains cooperate in mediating PI3K-dependent rearrangements in the cell cytoskeleton and cell shape.

Autophagy is a cellular response to starvation which generates autophagosomes to carry cellular organelles and long-lived proteins to lysosomes for degradation. Degradation through autophagy can provide an innate defence against virus infection, or conversely autophagosomes can promote infection by facilitating assembly of replicase proteins. We demonstrate that the avian coronavirus, Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV) activates autophagy. A screen of individual IBV non-structural proteins (nsps) showed that autophagy was activated by IBV nsp6. This property was shared with nsp6 of mammalian coronaviruses Mouse Hepatitis Virus, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Virus, and the equivalent nsp5-7 of the arterivirus Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus. These multiple-spanning transmembrane proteins located to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) where they generated Atg5 and LC3II-positive vesicles, and vesicle formation was dependent on Atg5 and class III PI3 kinase. The vesicles recruited double FYVE-domain containing protein (DFCP) indicating localised concentration of phosphatidylinositol 3 phosphate, and therefore shared many features with omegasomes formed from the ER in response to starvation. Omegasomes induced by viral nsp6 matured into autophagosomes that delivered LC3 to lysosomes and therefore recruited and recycled the proteins needed for autophagosome nucleation, expansion, cellular trafficking and delivery of cargo to lysosomes. The coronavirus nsp6 proteins activated omegasome and autophagosome formation independently of starvation, but activation did not involve direct inhibition of mTOR signalling, activation of sirtuin1 or induction of ER stress.

SummaryInduction of autophagy requires the ULK1 protein kinase complex and the Vps34 lipid kinase complex. PtdIns3P synthesised by Vps34 accumulates in omegasomes, membrane extensions of the ER within which some autophagosomes form. The ULK1 complex is thought to target autophagosomes independently of PtdIns3P, and its functional relationship to omegasomes is unclear. Here we show that the ULK1 complex colocalises with omegasomes in a PtdIns3P-dependent way. Live-cell imaging of Atg13 (a ULK1 complex component), omegasomes and LC3 establishes and annotates for the first time a complete sequence of steps leading to autophagosome formation, as follows. Upon starvation, the ULK1 complex forms puncta associated with the ER and sporadically with mitochondria. If PtdIns3P is available, these puncta become omegasomes. Subsequently, the ULK1 complex exits omegasomes and autophagosomes bud off. If PtdIns3P is unavailable, ULK1 puncta are greatly reduced in number and duration. Atg13 contains a region with affinity for acidic phospholipids, required for translocation to punctate structures and autophagy progression.

Autophagosome formation requires sequential translocation of autophagy-specific proteins to membranes enriched in PI3P and connected to the ER. Preceding this, the earliest autophagy-specific structure forming de novo is a small punctum of the ULK1 complex. The provenance of this structure and its mode of formation are unknown. We show that the ULK1 structure emerges from regions, where ATG9 vesicles align with the ER and its formation requires ER exit and coatomer function. Super-resolution microscopy reveals that the ULK1 compartment consists of regularly assembled punctate elements that cluster in progressively larger spherical structures and associates uniquely with the early autophagy machinery. Correlative electron microscopy after live imaging shows tubulovesicular membranes present at the locus of this structure. We propose that the nucleation of autophagosomes occurs in regions, where the ULK1 complex coalesces with ER and the ATG9 compartment.