Beclin 1 (BECN1)

Beclin-1 is also known as autophagy-related gene (Atg) 6. Beclin-1 and its binding partner class III phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), also named Vps34, are required for the initiation of the formation of the autophagasome in autophagy.Human beclin encodes a novel 450-amino acid protein containing a coiled-coil region, within which it has limited homology to myosin-like proteins . Human and mouse beclin share 98% amino acid sequence identity. Caenorhabditis elegans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae beclin homologs were also identified. PROSITE analysis of human beclin detected several potential glycosylation, phosphorylation, and myristoylation sites, but no other functional sequence motifs. Northern blot analysis of mouse and adult human tissues revealed widespread beclin expression.