Skip to main content
. 2010 Sep 1;9(17):3485–3505. doi: 10.4161/cc.9.17.12721

Figure 6.

Figure 6

Over-expression of autophagy and mitophagy markers in Cav-1 (−/−) null mammary fat pads: Cathepsin B and BNIP3. To validate the idea that a loss of Cav-1 drives the onset of autophagy, we assessed the expression of established autophagy markers, namely cathepsin B and BNIP3, in Cav-1 (−/−) mammary fat pads. Cathepsin B is a well-known lysosomal protease. BNIP3 is a marker of autophagy that mediates the autophagic destruction of mitochondria. Note that both cathepsin B (the pro-enzyme and activated form) and BNIP3 are significantly overexpressed in Cav-1 (−/−) null mammary fat pads (KO), relative wild-type controls (WT). Immuno-blotting with Cav-1 and ²-actin are shown for comparison. CTSB, cathepsin B.