The Beclin-1 Complex Antibody Sampler Kit provides an economical means of detecting proteins that are part of the Beclin-1 complexes. The kit includes enough antibodies to perform two western blot experiments with each primary antibody.

A number of studies have identified distinct complexes involving Beclin-1 and PI3K Kinase Class III with specific roles in autophagy and vesicle trafficking (1,2). These complexes commonly contain Beclin-1, PI3KC3/VSP34, and PIK3R4/VPS15 and function to catalyze the phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol at the D3 position, producing phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate. Specificity of PI3KC3 activity is regulated by additional binding partners. Complex 1 contains Atg14 which is required for early stages of autophagosome nucleation (3,4). Complex 2 lacks Atg14, but instead contains UVRAG, and is important for autophagosome maturation and endocytic trafficking (4-6). A third complex, containing both UVRAG and Rubicon, negatively regulates canonical autophagy (7,8). Importantly, this complex containing Rubicon is critical for a related process of LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP) in which extracellular pathogens binding to cell surface receptors are engulfed by a single membrane phagosome and degraded by the lysosome (9,10).