ATG101 is a newly found important autophagy related protein, among many other proteins responsible for autophagy, a process well conserved among most eukaryotic organisms. However, ATG101 is not homologous to any of the other ATG proteins. ATG101 interacts with essential autophagy protein ATG13 in mammals, which is a ULK1 interacting protein. ATG101 is suggested to protect ATG13 from proteasomal degradation, therefore stabilizing levels of ATG13 found in cells and regulating levels of macroautophagy. Phagophores are responsible for recognizing and surrounding materials that are to be degraded in the lysosome, by forming a membrane that completely surrounds the materials to be degraded.
