The class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase PIK3C3/VPS34 regulates endocytosis and autophagosome-autolysosome formation in podocytes

  • Autophagy. 2013 Jul;9(7):1097-9. doi: 10.4161/auto.24634.
Wibke Bechtel  1 ,  Martin Helmstädter ,  Jan Balica ,  Björn Hartleben ,  Christoph Schell ,  Tobias B Huber
Affiliations
  • 1. Renal Division; University Hospital Freiburg; Freiburg, Germany.
PMID: 23614954 DOI: 10.4161/auto.24634
Abstract

Phosphatidylinositol phosphates are key regulators of vesicle identity, formation and trafficking. In mammalian cells, the evolutionarily conserved class III PtdIns 3-kinase PIK3C3/Vps34 is part of a large multiprotein complex that catalyzes the localized phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol to phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PtdIns3P). We demonstrate that PIK3C3 has a key function in vesicular trafficking, endocytosis and autophagosome-autolysosome formation in the highly specialized glomerular podocytes.

Keywords
Pik3c3; Vps34; autophago-lysosomal formation; autophagy; endocytosis; glomerulosclerosis; phosphoinositide 3-kinase; podocyte; proteinuria.