title: Induction of apoptosis by human Nbk/Bik, a BH3-containing protein that interacts with E1B 19K.
abstract: The E1B 19-kilodalton protein (19K protein) is a potent apoptosis inhibitor and the adenovirus homolog of Bcl-2 (E. White, Genes Dev. 10:1-15, 1996). To obtain a better understanding of the biochemical mechanism by which the E1B 19K protein regulates apoptosis, proteins that interact with 19K have been identified; one of these is Bax (J. Han, P. Sabbatini, D. Perez, L. Rao, D. Mohda, and E. White, Genes Dev. 10:461-477, 1996), and another is Bak (S. N. Farrow, J. H. M. White, I. Martinou, T. Raven, K.-T. Pun, C. J. Grinham, J.-C. Martinou, and R. Brown, Nature (London) 374:731-733, 1995). Bax and Bak are Bcl-2 family members which contain Bcl-2 homology regions 1, 2, and 3 (BH1, BH2, and BH3), which interact with E1B 19K and Bcl-2 and promote apoptosis. Like Bax and Bak, Nbk was cloned from a yeast two-hybrid screen for proteins that interact with E1B 19K. Nbk contained BH3 but not BH1 or BH2. It also interacted with Bcl-2 but not with Bax. Both Bcl-2 and E1B 19K interacted with Nbk in vitro, and this interaction was highly specific. In vivo, the Nbk and E1B 19K proteins may colocalize with cytoplasmic and nuclear membranes. Nbk expression functionally antagonized 19K-mediated inhibition of apoptotic cell death and completely prevented transformation by E1A and E1B 19K. Nbk was sufficient for induction of apoptosis in the presence of mutant p53 and thus low levels of Bax, suggesting that Nbk functions independently of Bax to induce apoptosis. Nbk may therefore represent a novel death regulator which contains only a BH3 that interacts with and antagonizes apoptosis inhibitors such as the E1B 19K protein.
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sabbatini
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D017501:Adenovirus E1B Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015723:Gene Library; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D017501:Adenovirus E1B Proteins; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C096820:BIK protein, human; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C052130:GAL4 protein, S cerevisiae; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors