Enables phosphatidylinositol phosphate binding activity. Involved in autophagosome assembly. Located in cytoplasm. Is expressed in several structures, including nervous system. Human ortholog(s) of this gene implicated in neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation 5. Orthologous to several human genes including WDR45 (WD repeat domain 45).
WB Description
epg-6 encodes a WD40 repeat-containing protein that is related to the mammalian WIPI3/4 family of proteins (WD40 repeat protein interacting with phosphoinositides); in C. elegans, epg-6 activity is required for autophagic processes, specifically for the formation of autophagosomes from omegasomes (PtdIns(3)P-enriched endoplasmic reticulum subdomains) and for proper distribution of the autophagic proteins ATG-9 and EPG-1; EPG-6 binds ATG-2 in vitro and in vivo and also binds, in vitro, PtdIns(3)P and PtdIns(5)P and weakly binds PtdIns(4)P and PtdIns(3,5)P2; an EGP-6::GFP reporter fusion protein is widely expressed during embryonic and post-embryonic development, and localizes diffusely to the cytoplasm.