title: Beclin1 inhibition promotes autophagy and decreases gemcitabine-induced apoptosis in Miapaca2 pancreatic cancer cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Beclin1 is a well-known key regulator of autophagy, which is also a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor. Current studies revealed that down-regulation or monoallelic deletions of Beclin1 were frequently found in various cancers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Beclin1 inhibition on autophagy and Gemcitabine-induced apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  Beclin1 expression was inhibited by siRNA transduction and gene expression was determined by Real-time PCR and Western blot. The effects of Beclin1 inhibition on autophagy and Gemcitabine-induced apoptosis of Miapaca2 cells were analyed through LC3 expression, cell viability, cell cycle and apoptosis by using Western blot.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed that Beclin1 silence promoted microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-II (LC3-II) protein formation and increased punctate fluorescent signals in Miapaca2 cells transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged LC3. Beclin1 inhibition showed a greater suppressive effect on Gemcitabine-induced apoptosis of Miapaca2 cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggested that Beclin1 silence not only up-adjusted autophagy process, but also played an important role in the regulation of apoptosis. Beclin1 inhibition could inhibit apoptosis signaling induced by Gemcitabine in Miapaca2 cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shenyang General Hospital of PLA, 83 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, P,R, China. guoxiaozhong1962@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoshu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Lisheng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Fengjun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Yuefeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiaozhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang