Bcl-2-family proteins: the role of the BH3 domain in apoptosis.
Bcl-2-related proteins have come to occupy a prominent position in the realm of programmed cell death. Members of this fast-growing family are highly related in one or more specific regions, commonly referred to as Bcl-2 homology (BH) domains. BH domains contribute at multiple levels to the function of these proteins in cell death and survival. Particularly intriguing is the emergence of the BH3 domain as a potent 'death domain' and of a growing subclass of pro-apoptotic proteins with no similarity to Bcl-2 beyond their BH3 homology. Here, the authors classify proteins of the Bcl-2 family on the basis of function and domain organization, discuss the importance of the BH3 domain in protein-protein interactions and in cell death and provide possible explanations for the perceived redundancy in the expression of this subclass of death promoters.
Kelekar
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Gwen Knapp Center for Lupus and Immunology Research, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA. ameeta@cs.uchicago.edu
Thompson
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CB
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001665:Binding Sites; D019281:Dimerization; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2