title: BCL-2 family: regulators of cell death.
abstract: An expanding family of BCL-2 related proteins share homology, clustered within four conserved regions, namely BCL-2 homology (BH1-4) domains, which control the ability of these proteins to dimerize and function as regulators of apoptosis. Moreover, BCL-XL, BCL-2, and BAX can form ion-conductive pores in artificial membranes. The BCL-2 family, comprised of both pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic members, acts as a checkpoint upstream of CASPASES and mitochondrial dysfunction. BID and BAD possess the minimal death domain BH3, and the phosphorylation of BAD connects proximal survival signals to the BCL-2 family. BCL-2 and BCL-XL display a reciprocal pattern of expression during lymphocyte development. Gain- and loss-of-function models revealed stage-specific roles for BCL-2 and BCL-XL. BCL-2 can rescue maturation at several points of lymphocyte development. The BCL-2 family also reveals evidence for a cell-autonomous coordination between the opposing pathways of proliferation and cell death.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Korsmeyer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology; D019281:Dimerization; D006801:Humans; D009857:Oncogenes; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2