Description
Autophagy protein 5, also known as ATG5, belongs to the autophagy-related (ATG) genes family. Autophagy is a catabolic process for the autophagosomic-lysosomal degradation of bulk cytoplasmic contents. ATG5 protein is required for autophagy. It conjugates to ATG12 and associates with isolation membrane to form autophagosomes. ATG5 also plays an important role in the apoptotic process. Its expression is a relatively late event in the apoptotic process, occurring downstream of caspase activity.