Glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy in Komagataella phaffii

Glycogen is a primary cellular energy store in numerous eukaryotes. Its biosynthesis is a main strategy to cope with forthcoming starvation. During starvation, glycogen is processed in the cytosol or delivered for degradation to animal lysosomes or yeast vacuoles by macroautophagy (hereafter autopha...

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Main Authors: Nimna V. Wijewantha, Taras Y. Nazarko
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Autophagy Reports
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27694127.2025.2467454
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author Nimna V. Wijewantha
Taras Y. Nazarko
author_facet Nimna V. Wijewantha
Taras Y. Nazarko
author_sort Nimna V. Wijewantha
collection DOAJ
description Glycogen is a primary cellular energy store in numerous eukaryotes. Its biosynthesis is a main strategy to cope with forthcoming starvation. During starvation, glycogen is processed in the cytosol or delivered for degradation to animal lysosomes or yeast vacuoles by macroautophagy (hereafter autophagy). However, the mechanism of glycogen autophagy is poorly understood, especially in the heart and skeletal muscles that suffer from the lysosomal glycogen accumulation in Pompe disease. We recently developed the Komagataella phaffii yeast as a simple model to study glycogen autophagy and found that this pathway proceeds non-selectively. However, studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae proposed glycogen as a non-preferred cargo of bulk autophagy. In our latest study with new fluorescent reporters for glycogen, we clarified cargo properties of K. phaffii glycogen. Both homologous and heterologous markers of glycogen are delivered to the vacuole and degraded with efficiencies that are independent of glycogen, suggesting that glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy. This work provides insights into the evolutionary diversity of glycogen autophagy in yeasts with implications for understanding this process in complex eukaryotes.
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spelling doaj-art-784c2376cae6446989b8b8b042d49f6d2025-08-20T03:05:52ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAutophagy Reports2769-41272025-12-014110.1080/27694127.2025.2467454Glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy in Komagataella phaffiiNimna V. Wijewantha0Taras Y. Nazarko1Department of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USADepartment of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USAGlycogen is a primary cellular energy store in numerous eukaryotes. Its biosynthesis is a main strategy to cope with forthcoming starvation. During starvation, glycogen is processed in the cytosol or delivered for degradation to animal lysosomes or yeast vacuoles by macroautophagy (hereafter autophagy). However, the mechanism of glycogen autophagy is poorly understood, especially in the heart and skeletal muscles that suffer from the lysosomal glycogen accumulation in Pompe disease. We recently developed the Komagataella phaffii yeast as a simple model to study glycogen autophagy and found that this pathway proceeds non-selectively. However, studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae proposed glycogen as a non-preferred cargo of bulk autophagy. In our latest study with new fluorescent reporters for glycogen, we clarified cargo properties of K. phaffii glycogen. Both homologous and heterologous markers of glycogen are delivered to the vacuole and degraded with efficiencies that are independent of glycogen, suggesting that glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy. This work provides insights into the evolutionary diversity of glycogen autophagy in yeasts with implications for understanding this process in complex eukaryotes.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27694127.2025.2467454CBM20glycogen granulesglycogen synthaseglycophagyyeast
spellingShingle Nimna V. Wijewantha
Taras Y. Nazarko
Glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy in Komagataella phaffii
Autophagy Reports
CBM20
glycogen granules
glycogen synthase
glycophagy
yeast
title Glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy in Komagataella phaffii
title_full Glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy in Komagataella phaffii
title_fullStr Glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy in Komagataella phaffii
title_full_unstemmed Glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy in Komagataella phaffii
title_short Glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy in Komagataella phaffii
title_sort glycogen is a neutral cargo of bulk autophagy in komagataella phaffii
topic CBM20
glycogen granules
glycogen synthase
glycophagy
yeast
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27694127.2025.2467454
work_keys_str_mv AT nimnavwijewantha glycogenisaneutralcargoofbulkautophagyinkomagataellaphaffii
AT tarasynazarko glycogenisaneutralcargoofbulkautophagyinkomagataellaphaffii