Beclin 1, an Essential Component and Master Regulator of PI3K-III in Health and Disease.
CURRENT PATHOBIOLOGY REPORTS 2013;
1:231-238. [PMID:
24729948 DOI:
10.1007/s40139-013-0028-5]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Autophagy is a cell 'self-digestion' pathway involving the synthesis, trafficking and delivery of autophagosomes to lysosomes for degradation. Beclin 1 is a core component of the class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K-III) complex, which plays an important role in membrane trafficking and restructuring involved in autophagy, endocytosis, cytokinesis and phagocytosis. To date Beclin 1 has largely been characterized in the context of autophagy; it modulates the lipid kinase activity of PI3K-III catalytic unit VPS34, which generates phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI(3)P), enabling the recruitment of a number of autophagy proteins involved in the nucleation of the autophagosome. Beclin 1 seems to function as an adaptor for recruiting multiple proteins that modulate VPS34. The recent identification of Beclin 1 protein modifications has shed light on its regulation in autophagy, and the discovery of non-autophagy functions of Beclin 1 has expanded our view of Beclin 1's involvement in tissue homeostasis and human diseases.
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