AP-4 is a member of the heterotetrameric adaptor protein (AP) complex family involved in protein sorting in the endomembrane system of eukaryotic cells. Interest in AP-4 has recently risen with the discovery that mutations in any of its four subunits cause a form of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) with intellectual disability. The critical sorting events mediated by AP-4 and the pathogenesis of AP-4 deficiency, however, remain poorly understood. Here we report the identification of ATG9A, the only multispanning membrane component of the core autophagy machinery, as a specific AP-4 cargo. AP-4 promotes signal-mediated export of ATG9A from the trans-Golgi network to the peripheral cytoplasm, contributing to lipidation of the autophagy protein LC3B and maturation of preautophagosomal structures. These findings implicate AP-4 as a regulator of autophagy and altered autophagy as a possible defect in AP-4-deficient HSP.
Keywords: AP-4; ATG9A; adaptor protein complexes; autophagy; protein sorting.