ATG5 (Autophagy-Related 5) is a ubiquitin-like conjugating enzyme essential for autophagosome formation and cellular processes like apoptosis, antigen presentation, and mitochondrial quality control . Antibodies targeting ATG5 are widely used to study autophagy mechanisms and related pathologies.
Autophagy Role: ATG5 forms a conjugate with ATG12, enabling lipidation of LC3 and autophagosome maturation .
Apoptosis Link: Truncated ATG5 interacts with Bcl-xL, promoting cell death .
Immune Modulation: Facilitates B-cell receptor polarization and antigen presentation .
Western Blot: Detects ATG5 in HeLa, NIH/3T3, and rat brain lysates .
Immunofluorescence: Localizes ATG5 to cytoplasmic puncta in human stomach tissue .
Therapeutic Potential: Neutralizing antibodies (e.g., anti-TNF-α) demonstrate efficacy in LPS-induced sepsis models .
Antibody Characterization: Studies highlight widespread validation gaps, with ~12 publications per target using non-specific antibodies .
Critical Controls: Knockout (KO) cell lines are superior for confirming antibody specificity .
Cancer: ATG5 supports tumor survival via autophagy-mediated stress adaptation .
Neurodegeneration: ATG5 dysfunction links to impaired clearance of protein aggregates .
Autoimmunity: Natural antibodies targeting glycans (e.g., GlcNAc) delay Type 1 diabetes by enhancing apoptotic cell clearance .
Recombinant Antibodies: Outperform monoclonals/polyclonals in specificity .
High-Throughput Screening: Next-gen sequencing (NGS) identifies 535 unique HCDR3 clones post-selection, revealing hidden diversity .
Therapeutic Engineering: Bispecific antibodies (e.g., REGEN-COV) resist viral escape mutations in SARS-CoV-2 .