ABSTRACT
Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Autophagy: From Model Systems to
Therapeutic Opportunities, organized by Drs. Vojo Deretic, Li Yu and Leon O. Murphy. The conference will be
held in Santa Fe, New Mexico from February 17-21, 2019.
Autophagy is a homeostatic process strategically positioned at the intersection of metabolism and intracellular
quality control, with broad physiological and medical manifestations ranging from metabolic imbalance to
neurodegeneration, infections, immune disorders, cancer and aging. In yeast, the formation and organization
of the autophagosomal apparatus follows a highly prescribed sequence, starting with the pre-autophagosomal
structure and ending in autophagosomal fusion with the yeast vacuole. However, in other model organisms, as
well as in mammals, the autophagy machinery and its regulators show both similarities and notable differences
relative to yeast. The goals/aims of the conference are: 1) Compare and contrast autophagy in yeast and
higher organisms with a focus on both the shared regulators and on those factors that have no counterparts in
yeast. 2) Cover the intersection of autophagy with energy metabolism, innate immune signaling and
endomembrane damage. 3) Cover how signaling cascades regulate the process of selective autophagy
whereby substrates are recruited to forming autophagosomes by receptors and molecular tags such as
ubiquitin, galectins, or through other modalities. The conference will cover fundamental principles as outlined
above and how they apply to basic and translational aspects of human disease. Intersections with several
other stress response processes will be addressed.