AMPK regulates ESCRT-dependent microautophagy of proteasomes concomitant with proteasome storage granule assembly during glucose starvation.

The ubiquitin-proteasome system regulates numerous cellular processes and is central to protein homeostasis. In proliferating yeast and many mammalian cells, proteasomes are highly enriched in the nucleus. In carbon-starved yeast, proteasomes migrate to the cytoplasm and collect in proteasome storage granules (PSGs). PSGs dissolve and proteasomes return to the nucleus within minutes of glucose refeeding. The mechanisms by which cells regulate proteasome homeostasis under these conditions remain largely unknown. Here we show that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) together with endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRTs) drive a glucose starvation-dependent microautophagy pathway that preferentially sorts aberrant proteasomes into the vacuole, thereby biasing accumulation of functional proteasomes in PSGs. The proteasome core particle (CP) and regulatory particle (RP) are regulated differently. Without AMPK, the insoluble protein deposit (IPOD) serves as an alternative site that specifically sequesters CP aggregates. Our findings reveal a novel AMPK-controlled ESCRT-mediated microautophagy mechanism in the regulation of proteasome trafficking and homeostasis under carbon starvation.