Description
Product Usage Information
CST recommends transfection with 100 nM SignalSilence ® Atg14 siRNA I 48 to 72 hours prior to cell lysis. For transfection procedure, follow protocol provided by the transfection reagent manufacturer. Please feel free to contact CST with any questions on use. Each vial contains the equivalent of 100 transfections, which corresponds to a final siRNA concentration of 100 nM per transfection in a 24-well plate with a total volume of 300 μl per well.
Storage
SignalSilence ® siRNA is supplied in RNAse-free water. Aliquot and store at -20ºC.
Background
Autophagy is a catabolic process for the autophagosomic-lysosomal degradation of bulk cytoplasmic contents (1,2). Autophagy is generally activated by conditions of nutrient deprivation but is also associated with a number of physiological processes including development, differentiation, neurodegeneration, infection, and cancer (3). The molecular machinery of autophagy was largely discovered in yeast and is directed by a number of autophagy-related (Atg) genes. These proteins are involved in the formation of autophagosomes, cytoplasmic vacuoles that are delivered to lysosomes for degradation. The class III type phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) Vps34 regulates vacuolar trafficking and autophagy (4,5). Multiple proteins associate with Vps34, including p105/Vps15, Beclin-1, UVRAG, Atg14, and Rubicon, to determine Vps34 function (6-12). Atg14 and Rubicon were identified based on their ability to bind to Beclin-1 and participate in unique complexes with opposing functions (9-12). Rubicon, which localizes to the endosome and lysosome, inhibits Vps34 lipid kinase activity; knockdown of Rubicon enhances autophagy and endocytic trafficking (11,12). In contrast, Atg14 localizes to autophagosomes, isolation membranes and ER, and can enhance Vps34 activity. Knockdown of Atg14 inhibits starvation-induced autophagy (11,12).
