We also found a decrease in the cleaved PARP levels in the brains of rats where we downregulated Puma or Beclin1 as compared to that of the Aβ-infused rat brains (Fig. 7A, B, E, F), suggesting that both Puma and Beclin1 play an essential role in the regulation of both autophagy and apoptosis, in determining the fate of neurons in AD. The gene discussed is BECN1; the disease is Alzheimer disease.