| First Author | Yue Z | Year | 2003 |
| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 100 |
| Issue | 25 | Pages | 15077-82 |
| PubMed ID | 14657337 | Mgi Jnum | J:86982 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:2682527 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.2436255100 |
| Citation | Yue Z, et al. (2003) Beclin 1, an autophagy gene essential for early embryonic development, is a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100(25):15077-82 |
| abstractText | The biochemical properties of beclin 1 suggest a role in two fundamentally important cell biological pathways: autophagy and apoptosis. We show here that beclin 1-/- mutant mice die early in embryogenesis and beclin 1+/- mutant mice suffer from a high incidence of spontaneous tumors. These tumors continue to express wild-type beclin 1 mRNA and protein, establishing that beclin 1 is a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor gene. Beclin 1-/- embryonic stem cells have a severely altered autophagic response, whereas their apoptotic response to serum withdrawal or UV light is normal. These results demonstrate that beclin 1 is a critical component of mammalian autophagy and establish a role for autophagy in tumor suppression. They both provide a biological explanation for recent evidence implicating beclin 1 in human cancer and suggest that mutations in other genes operating in this pathway may contribute to tumor formation through deregulation of autophagy. |
