Autophagy-related protein 8 (Atg8) family interacting motif in Atg3 mediates the Atg3-Atg8 interaction and is crucial for the cytoplasm-to-vacuole targeting pathway.

The autophagy-related protein 8 (Atg8) conjugation system is essential for the formation of double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes during autophagy, a bulk degradation process conserved among most eukaryotes. It is also important in yeast for recognizing target vacuolar enzymes through the receptor protein Atg19 during the cytoplasm-to-vacuole targeting (Cvt) pathway, a selective type of autophagy. Atg3 is an E2-like enzyme that conjugates Atg8 with phosphatidylethanolamine. Here, we show that Atg3 directly interacts with Atg8 through the WEDL sequence, which is distinct from canonical interaction between E2 and ubiquitin-like modifiers. Moreover, NMR experiments suggest that the mode of interaction between Atg8 and Atg3 is quite similar to that between Atg8/LC3 and the Atg8 family interacting motif (AIM) conserved in autophagic receptors, such as Atg19 and p62. Thus, the WEDL sequence in Atg3 is a canonical AIM. In vitro analyses showed that Atg3 AIM is crucial for the transfer of Atg8 from the Atg8∼Atg3 thioester intermediate to phosphatidylethanolamine but not for the formation of the intermediate. Intriguingly, in vivo experiments showed that it is necessary for the Cvt pathway but not for starvation-induced autophagy. Atg3 AIM attenuated the inhibitory effect of Atg19 on Atg8 lipidation in vitro, suggesting that Atg3 AIM may be important for the lipidation of Atg19-bound Atg8 during the Cvt pathway.