Schematic highlighting our current understanding of autophagy initiation. The ULK1 complex drives formation of the phagophore, the initial autophagosomal precursor membrane structure, through direct activation of the VPS34 (vacuolar protein sorting 34) complex and by mediating trafficking of ATG (autophagy-related protein) 9 (ATG9). As discussed in the text, it is also likely that ULK1 has additional roles in autophagosome maturation. Once cargo has been engulfed, the autophagosome fuses with the lysosome to form the digestive autolysosome where cargo is degraded and recycled.