# GENETICS OF ENDOCYTIC TRAFFICKING IN THE DROSOPHILA EYE

> **NIH NIH R01** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $80,107

## Abstract

Autophagy is an important cellular response to metabolic stress, challenges to
proteostasis and diverse other insults such as infections. These conditions induce the
formation of an isolation membrane that initiates the engulfment of unspecific
cytoplasmic content in the context of the starvation. In response to other stressors more
specific targets may be tagged for degradation such as aggregates of misfolded
proteins, dysfunctional mitochondria, or pathogens. The initial isolation membranes (also
called phagophores) grow and eventually engulf the cargo in double-membraned
autophagosomes. Their subsequent fusion with late endosomes and lysosomes will
deliver the autophagosomal content for degradation and recycling of nutrients to
stressed cells. Beyond its importance in the starvation response, basal autophagy is
increasingly recognized as an important quality control mechanism that reduces
degeneration of neurons and photoreceptor cells and has implications for cancer and
infectious diseases. Therefore, it is important to understand the distinct cellular signaling
pathways that adjust the rate of autophagy to the cell’s physiology. Careful calibration of
such signaling is essential as excessive autophagy is lethal to cells. We identified Acinus
as a regulator in the induction of basal, starvation-independent autophagy. The Acinus
protein integrates signals from multiple pathways to modulate the function of core
autophagy proteins. This grant aims to understand the molecular mechanisms that
regulate the levels of Acn protein and its activity. Aim 1 proposes to define the
phosphatases and kinases responsible for regulating its activity. Aim 2 will analyze the
mechanistic link between Acinus and activation of Atg1, the master regulatory kinase of
the autophagy pathway.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10291063
- **Project number:** 3R01EY010199-26S1
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Helmut J Kramer
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $80,107
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1994-04-01 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10291063

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10291063, GENETICS OF ENDOCYTIC TRAFFICKING IN THE DROSOPHILA EYE (3R01EY010199-26S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10291063. Licensed CC0.

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