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Title: Caspase-mediated cleavage of ATG6/Beclin-1 links apoptosis to autophagy in HeLa cells. Author: Cho DH, Jo YK, Hwang JJ, Lee YM, Roh SA, Kim JC. Journal: Cancer Lett; 2009 Feb 08; 274(1):95-100. PubMed ID: 18842334. Abstract: Autophagy is a catabolic process involved in cell death and in cell protective mechanism. Autophagic cell death is differentiated from apoptosis by the presence of double or multiple-membrane enclosed vesicles, and the ATG proteins are essential for the formation of these autophagic vesicles. Here, we show that ATG6/Beclin-1 is a novel caspase substrate. ATG6 is directly cleaved by caspases in a process inhibited by the pan caspase inhibitor, zVAD. Ectopic expression of ATG6 suppresses cell death while reduction of ATG6 levels by siRNA sensitizes cells to TRAIL-induced cell death. Also, the inhibition of caspases leads to an increase in autophagy. These results suggest that caspase-mediated cleavage of ATG6 links the apoptotic and autophagic signaling pathways.[Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]