| Description |
Apoptosis plays a major role in normal organism development, tissue homeostasis, and removal of damaged cells (1). This process is regulated by the interplay of pro- and anti-apoptotic members of the B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) family (2). The BH3-only (Bcl-2-homology domain 3 only) proteins are a pro-apoptotic subgroup of the Bcl-2 family that are critical initiators of lymphocyte apoptosis and other processes (3). Unlike the other members of the Bcl-2 family which contain at least two Bcl-2 homology (BH) domains, these proteins contain just one, the BH3 domain. Some of the members of this family, such as Hrk, may show little sequence homology to the others (4), but all BH-only proteins can bind to at least some pro-survival Bcl-2-like proteins through this BH3 domain and trigger apoptosis when overexpressed (5). For example, the proteins Bad, Bim and Bmf regulate apoptosis by forming heterodimers with the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL (6-8). Bim, Noxa, and PUMA are activated
|