Depletion of Beclin-1 Due to Proteolytic Cleavage by Caspases in the Alzheimer's Disease Brain

Troy T. Rohn, Ellen Wirawan, Raquel J. Brown, Jordan R. Harris, Eliezer Masliah, Peter Vandenabeele

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

143 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Beclin-1 protein is essential for the initiation of autophagy and recent studies suggest this function may be compromised in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In addition, in vitro studies have supported a loss of function of Beclin-1 due to proteolytic modification by caspases. In the present study we examined whether caspase-cleavage of Beclin-1 occurs in the AD brain by designing a site-directed caspase-cleavage antibody based upon a known cleavage site within the protein at position D149. We confirmed that Beclin-1 is an excellent substrate for caspase-3 and demonstrate cleavage led to the formation of a 35 kDa C-terminal fragment labeled by our novel antibody following Western blot analysis. Application of this antibody termed Beclin-1 caspase-cleavage product antibody or BeclinCCP in frontal cortex tissue sections revealed strong immunolabeling within astrocytes that localized with plaque-regions and along blood vessels in all AD cases examined. In addition, weaker, more variable BeclinCCP labeling was also observed within neurofibrillary tangles that co-localized with the early tau conformational marker, MC-1 as well as the late tangle marker, PHF-1. Collectively, these data support a depletion of Beclin-1 in AD following caspase-cleavage.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalHistory Faculty Publications and Presentations
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2011

Keywords

  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Beclin-1
  • astrocytes
  • caspase

EGS Disciplines

  • Biology

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