Autophagy-Inducing Peptide (AIP)
The autophagy-inducing peptide (AIP) and negative control peptide were provided by Dr. Beth Levine (Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX), and based on her group’s previous studies (Shoji-Kawata et al., 2013). The cell-permeable AIP was comprised of a portion of the Beclin 1 autophagy protein spanned by amino acids 267-284, joined via a diglycine linker to the HIV-1 Tat protein transduction domain (PTD) (Shoji-Kawata et al., 2013, van den Berg and Dowdy, 2011). The control peptide consisted of an identical Tat PTD domain linked to a scrambled Beclin 1 amino acid sequence that does not induce autophagy (Shoji-Kawata et al., 2013). Both peptides were reported to be well-tolerated in mice when administered in vivo (Shoji-Kawata et al., 2013).