Autophagy related 12 is a

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

that in humans is encoded by the ''ATG12''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

. Autophagy is a process of bulk protein degradation in which cytoplasmic components, including organelles, are enclosed in double-membrane structures called autophagosomes and delivered to lysosomes or vacuoles for degradation. ATG12 is the human homolog of a yeast protein involved in autophagy (Mizushima et al., 1998). upplied by OMIMref name="entrez"/> Autophagy requires the covalent attachment of the protein Atg12 to

ATG5 Autophagy related 5 (ATG5) is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the ''ATG5'' gene located on Chromosome 6. It is an E3 ubi autophagic cell death. ATG5 is a key protein involved in the extension of the phagophoric membrane in autophagic ve ...

through a

ubiquitin Ubiquitin is a small (8.6 kDa) regulatory protein found in most tissues of eukaryotic organisms, i.e., it is found ''ubiquitously''. It was discovered in 1975 by Gideon Goldstein and further characterized throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. Fo ...

-like conjugation system. The Atg12-Atg5 conjugate then promotes the conjugation of ATG8 to the lipid phosphatidylethanolamine. Atg12 was found to be involved in apoptosis. This protein promotes apoptosis through an interaction with anti-apoptotic members of the

Bcl-2 family The Bcl-2 familyTC# 1.A.21 consists of a number of evolutionarily-conserved proteins that share Bcl-2 homology (BH) domains. The Bcl-2 family is most notable for their regulation of apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death, at the mitochondrion ...

.A. D. Rubinstein, M. Eisenstein, Y. Ber, S. Bialik, and A. Kimchi, 'The Autophagy Protein Atg12 Associates with Antiapoptotic Bcl-2 Family Members to Promote Mitochondrial Apoptosis', Mol Cell, 44 (2011), 698-709

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