Xu, L., Qiu, Y., Wang, X., Shang, W., Bai, J., Shi, K., Liu, H., Liu, J.P., Wang, L., Tong, C. (2022). ER-mitochondrial contact protein Miga regulates autophagy through Atg14 and Uvrag.  Cell Rep. 41(5): 111583.

FBrf0254939

Research paper

Mitochondrial malfunction and autophagy defects are often concurrent phenomena associated with neurodegeneration. We show that Miga, a mitochondrial outer-membrane protein that regulates endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondrial contact sites (ERMCSs), is required for autophagy. Loss of Miga results in an accumulation of autophagy markers and substrates, whereas PI3P and Syx17 levels are reduced. Further experiments indicated that the fusion between autophagosomes and lysosomes is defective in Miga mutants. Miga binds to Atg14 and Uvrag; concordantly, Miga overexpression results in Atg14 and Uvrag recruitment to mitochondria. The heightened PI3K activity induced by Miga requires Uvrag, whereas Miga-mediated stabilization of Syx17 is dependent on Atg14. Miga-regulated ERMCSs are critical for PI3P formation but are not essential for the stabilization of Syx17. In summary, we identify a mitochondrial protein that regulates autophagy by recruiting two alternative components of the PI3K complex present at the ERMCSs.