ATG7 Gene

HGNC Family	Ubiquitin-like activating enzymes (UBA)
Name	autophagy related 7
Description	This gene encodes an E1-like activating enzyme that is essential for autophagy and cytoplasmic to vacuole transport. The encoded protein is also thought to modulate p53-dependent cell cycle pathways during prolonged metabolic stress. It has been associated with multiple functions, including axon membrane trafficking, axonal homeostasis, mitophagy, adipose differentiation, and hematopoietic stem cell maintenance. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2015]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n ATG7 is a core autophagy‐related protein that is indispensable for the canonical macroautophagy pathway. Multiple studies have demonstrated that ATG7 is required for autophagosome formation and plays a pivotal role in maintaining cellular homeostasis. For example, targeted deletion of ATG7 in neural cells prevents the clearance of polyubiquitinated protein aggregates, leading to inclusion body formation, neuronal loss, and neurodegeneration."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Similarly, loss of ATG7 in cardiac and skeletal muscle compromises organelle turnover and results in abnormal mitochondrial remodeling and myofiber atrophy, thereby contributing to muscle degeneration."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n In the context of cell death pathways, ATG7 is essential not only for executing autophagic cell death (as seen when caspase‐8 is inhibited)"}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ", but also for modulating ferroptosis through ferritinophagy; its knockdown or deletion limits erastin‐induced ferroptotic cell death by reducing intracellular iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n In immune cells, ATG7 is required downstream of NOD2 activation to promote autophagy‐dependent bacterial handling and proper antigen presentation"}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "6"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ", while in neurons, ATG7 participates in mitophagic processes that help remodel damaged mitochondria in response to PINK1 deficiency."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "7"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n ATG7’s role also extends to metabolic regulation: muscle‐ or adipose‐specific deletion of ATG7 leads to significant alterations in lipid metabolism, enhanced fatty acid oxidation, improved insulin sensitivity, and resistance to diet‐induced obesity."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "8"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Moreover, post‐translational modifications, such as deacetylation by Sirt1, target ATG7 along with other autophagic components to link nutrient sensing with autophagy induction."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "10"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Interestingly, although ATG7-dependent autophagy represents the conventional pathway, its absence has helped uncover alternative autophagic routes that can operate independently of ATG7."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "11"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Collectively, these findings highlight that ATG7 is central to proteostasis, organelle quality control, regulation of cell death, immune responses, and metabolic homeostasis—a notion that underscores its potential as a therapeutic target in neurodegenerative, metabolic, and infectious diseases."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "10"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "3"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "11"}, {"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "6", "end_ref": "9"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "12"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Masaaki Komatsu, Satoshi Waguri, Tomoki Chiba, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Loss of autophagy in the central nervous system causes neurodegeneration in mice."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nature (2006)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/nature04723"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04723"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "16625205"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16625205"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Masaaki Komatsu, Satoshi Waguri, Takashi Ueno, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Impairment of starvation-induced and constitutive autophagy in Atg7-deficient mice."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Cell Biol (2005)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1083/jcb.200412022"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200412022"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15866887"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15866887"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Eva Masiero, Lisa Agatea, Cristina Mammucari, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Autophagy is required to maintain muscle mass."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell Metab (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.cmet.2009.10.008"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2009.10.008"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19945408"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19945408"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Li Yu, Ajjai Alva, Helen Su, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Regulation of an ATG7-beclin 1 program of autophagic cell death by caspase-8."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Science (2004)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1126/science.1096645"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1096645"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15131264"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15131264"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Wen Hou, Yangchun Xie, Xinxin Song, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Autophagy promotes ferroptosis by degradation of ferritin."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Autophagy (2016)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1080/15548627.2016.1187366"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2016.1187366"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "27245739"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27245739"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Rachel Cooney, John Baker, Oliver Brain, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "NOD2 stimulation induces autophagy in dendritic cells influencing bacterial handling and antigen presentation."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nat Med (2010)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/nm.2069"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.2069"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19966812"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19966812"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 7, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Ruben K Dagda, Salvatore J Cherra, Scott M Kulich, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Loss of PINK1 function promotes mitophagy through effects on oxidative stress and mitochondrial fission."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Biol Chem (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1074/jbc.M808515200"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M808515200"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19279012"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19279012"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 8, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Kook Hwan Kim, Yeon Taek Jeong, Hyunhee Oh, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Autophagy deficiency leads to protection from obesity and insulin resistance by inducing Fgf21 as a mitokine."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nat Med (2013)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/nm.3014"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3014"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "23202295"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23202295"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 9, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yong Zhang, Scott Goldman, Rebecca Baerga, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Adipose-specific deletion of autophagy-related gene 7 (atg7) in mice reveals a role in adipogenesis."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1073/pnas.0906048106"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0906048106"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19910529"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19910529"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 10, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "In Hye Lee, Liu Cao, Raul Mostoslavsky, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "A role for the NAD-dependent deacetylase Sirt1 in the regulation of autophagy."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (2008)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1073/pnas.0712145105"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0712145105"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "18296641"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18296641"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 11, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yuya Nishida, Satoko Arakawa, Kenji Fujitani, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Discovery of Atg5/Atg7-independent alternative macroautophagy."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nature (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/nature08455"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08455"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19794493"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19794493"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 12, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Kun Wang, Cui-Yun Liu, Lu-Yu Zhou, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "APF lncRNA regulates autophagy and myocardial infarction by targeting miR-188-3p."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nat Commun (2015)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/ncomms7779"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7779"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "25858075"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25858075"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	APG7-LIKE, GSA7, APG7L
Proteins	ATG7_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	10533
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

ATG7 has 13,677 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, chemical, functional term, phrase or reference, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 129 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for ATG7 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

ATG7 Gene

Functional Associations

Please acknowledge the Harmonizome in your publications by citing the following reference(s):

	Dataset	Summary
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of ATG7 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of ATG7 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles	tissue samples with high or low expression of ATG7 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of ATG7 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq	tissue samples with high or low expression of ATG7 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of ATG7 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of ATG7 gene relative to other cell lines from the BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of ATG7 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of ATG7 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures	small molecule perturbations changing expression of ATG7 gene from the Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of ATG7 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of ATG7 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with ATG7 protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with ATG7 gene from the CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of ATG7 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of ATG7 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022	transcription factors binding the promoter of ATG7 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	CM4AI U2OS Cell Map Protein Localization Assemblies	assemblies containing ATG7 protein from integrated AP-MS and IF data from the CM4AI U2OS Cell Map Protein Localization Assemblies dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of ATG7 gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing ATG7 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing ATG7 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing ATG7 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing ATG7 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with ATG7 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components co-occuring with ATG7 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of ATG7 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with ATG7 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with ATG7 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with ATG7 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency	cell lines with fitness changed by ATG7 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases involving ATG7 gene from the DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with ATG7 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with ATG7 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases co-occuring with ATG7 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with ATG7 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with ATG7 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset.
	ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles	histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at ATG7 gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of ATG7 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of ATG7 gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing ATG7 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.