BECN1 (Beclin 1) is a coiled coil protein that interacts with prototypic cellular anti-apoptotic gene BCL2 and modulates autophagy and cell death. BECN1 is widely expressed with highest levels in skeletal muscle. In schizophrenia, increased neuronal cell death is caused by lowered levels of BECN1 in the hippocampus. Additionally, allelic deletion of BECN1 results in a wide variety of cancers including breast cancer. In immunohistochemistry, BECN1 has cytoplasmic positivity in a majority of tissues throughout the body. References: Molecular Psychiatry. 20 (1): 126–32, PMID: 24365867; The UniProt Consortium. Nucleic Acids Res. 47: D506-515 (2019); Nucleic Acids Res. 2016 Jan 4;44(D1):D733-45, PMID:26553804;