BECN1

Beclin-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the BECN1 gene. Beclin-1 is a mammalian ortholog of the yeast autophagy-related gene 6 (Atg6)  and BEC-1 in the C. elegans nematode. This protein interacts with either BCL-2 or PI3k class III, playing a critical role in the regulation of both autophagy and cell death.

Role in disease

Beclin-1 plays an important role in tumorigenesis, and neurodegeneration, being implicated in the autophagic programmed cell death. Ovarian cancer with upregulated autophagy has a less aggressive behavior and is more responsive to chemotherapy.

Schizophrenia is associated with low levels of Beclin-1 in the hippocampus of those affected, which causes diminished autophagy which in turn results in increased neuronal cell death.

Interactions

BECN1 has been shown to interact with:

• Bcl-2
• BCL2L2
• GOPC
• MAP1LC3A
• Rubicon
• UVRAG

Modulators

Trehalose

Trehalose reduces p62/Beclin-1 ratio and increases autophagy in the frontal cortex of ICR mice, possibly by increasing Beclin-1.

External links

• Human BECN1 genome location and BECN1 gene details page in the UCSC Genome Browser.
• Overview of all the structural information available in the PDB for UniProt: Q14457 (Beclin-1) at the PDBe-KB.