Autophagy related 16 like 1 is a
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''ATG16L1''
gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
.
This protein is characterized as a subunit of the
autophagy
Autophagy (or autophagocytosis; from the Greek language, Greek , , meaning "self-devouring" and , , meaning "hollow") is the natural, conserved degradation of the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components through a lysosome-depe ...
-related
ATG12- ATG5/ATG16 complex and is essentially important for the LC3 (
ATG8) lipidation and
autophagosome formation. This complex localizes to the membrane and is released just before or after autophagosome completion.
Furthermore, ATG16L1 appears to have other autophagy-independent functions, e.g., intracellular membrane trafficking regulation and
inflammation
Inflammation (from ) is part of the biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. The five cardinal signs are heat, pain, redness, swelling, and loss of function (Latin ''calor'', '' ...
.
Autophagy in general plays a crucial role in pathways leading to