Mass Assays to Quantify Bioactive PtdIns3P and PtdIns5P During Autophagic Responses.

Autophagy is a cellular process whereby cytoplasmic substrates are targeted for degradation in the lysosome via the membrane structures autophagosomes. This process is initiated by specific phosphoinositides, PtdIns3P and PtdIns5P, which play a key role in autophagy by recruiting effectors such as Atg18/WIPI2. Therefore, quantifying those lipids is important to better understand the assembly of the complex autophagic machinery. Herein, we describe in detail methods to quantify PtdIns3P and PtdIns5P by specific mass assays feasible in most laboratories.