title: Two kinds of BIR-containing protein - inhibitors of apoptosis, or required for mitosis.
abstract: The baculoviral IAP repeat (BIR) is a zinc-binding fold. Some BIR-containing proteins (BIRCs), including several from insect viruses, insects and vertebrates, are inhibitors of cell death and act by binding to active caspases. Their ability to do so can be antagonized by pro-apoptotic insect proteins such as Grim, HID and Reaper, or the mammalian protein Diablo/Smac. Members of one structurally distinct subgroup of BIR-containing proteins, which are present in yeasts and Caenorhabditis elegans as well as insects and vertebrates, do not act as caspase inhibitors; instead, they are required for chromosome segregation and cytokinesis, and act in concert with inner centromere protein (INCENP) homologues and aurora kinase homologues.
authors.affiliation: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Post Office Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Australia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Silke
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Vaux
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D015801:Helminth Proteins; C118999:bir-1 protein, C elegans