Component of the autophagy machinery that controls the major intracellular degradation process by which cytoplasmic materials are packaged into autophagosomes and delivered to lysosomes for degradation (PubMed:23435086, PubMed:28561066). Binds phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PtdIns3P) (PubMed:28561066). Activated by the STK11/AMPK signaling pathway upon starvation, WDR45 is involved in autophagosome assembly downstream of WIPI2, regulating the size of forming autophagosomes (PubMed:28561066).

Preautophagosomal structureCytoplasm

Neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation 5

A neurodegenerative disorder associated with iron accumulation in the brain, primarily in the basal ganglia. NBIA5 is characterized by global developmental delay in early childhood that is essentially static, with slow motor and cognitive gains until adolescence or early adulthood. In young adulthood, affected individuals develop progressive dystonia, parkinsonism, extrapyramidal signs, and dementia resulting in severe disability.

Required for melanocyte differentiation

Albinism, oculocutaneous, 7

A disorder of pigmentation characterized by reduced biosynthesis of melanin in the skin, hair and eyes. Patients show reduced or lacking pigmentation associated with classic albinism ocular abnormalities, including decreased visual acuity, macular hypoplasia, optic dysplasia, atypical choroidal vessels, and nystagmus.