Autophagy, the process of bulk degradation of cellular proteins through an autophagosomic-lysosomal pathway is important for normal growth control and may be defective in tumor cells. It is involved in the preservation of cellular nutrients under starvation conditions as well as the normal turnover of cytosolic components. This process is negatively regulated by TOR (Target of rapamycin) through phosphorylation of autophagy protein ATG1. ATG14 is a subunit of a class III phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) 3-kinase complex that targets the complex to the endoplasmic reticulum, the site of autophagosome formation.Synonyms: Atg14L, Beclin 1-associated autophagy-related key regulator, KIAA0831