FIGURE 1.

Beclin 1 heterozygous deletion in mice leads to increased collagen deposition in the kidney. A, Masson's trichrome staining of representative kidney sections from beclin 1^+/− mice and age-matched beclin 1^+/+ littermates. Scale bar, 100 μm. Similar results were observed for samples from four different mice of each genotype. B, expression levels of type I collagen (Col-I) and Beclin 1 by Western blot analysis of kidney tissue extracts from beclin 1^+/− mice and age-matched beclin 1^+/+ littermates. Each lane represents protein lysates from the kidney of a single animal (data shown are from 4 different mice per group). Immunoblotting for β-actin was used as protein loading control. The levels of Col-I were quantitated as ratio to β-actin by densitometry. Data are presented as the mean ± S.E. of four independent experiments (*, p < 0.05 versus beclin 1^+/+ mice).