Autophagy is a catabolic process for the autophagosomic-lysosomal degradation of bulk cytoplasmic contents (1,2). Autophagy is generally activated by conditions of nutrient deprivation but has also been associated with a number of physiological processes including development, differentiation, neurodegeneration, infection, and cancer (3). The molecular machinery of autophagy was largely discovered in yeast and referred to as autophagy-related (Atg) genes. Formation of the autophagosome involves a ubiquitin-like conjugation system in which Atg12 is covalently bound to Atg5 and targeted to autophagosome vesicles (4-6). This conjugation reaction is mediated by the ubiquitin E1-like enzyme Atg7 and the E2-like enzyme Atg10 (7,8).
