title: Minimal BH3 peptides promote cell death by antagonizing anti-apoptotic proteins.
abstract: The pro-apoptotic "BH3 domain-only" proteins of the Bcl-2 family (e.g. Bid and Bad) transduce multiple death signals to the mitochondrion. They interact with the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members and induce apoptosis by a mechanism that requires the presence of at least one of the multidomain pro-apoptotic proteins Bax or Bak. Although the BH3 domain of Bid can promote the pro-apoptotic assembly and function of Bax/Bak by itself, other BH3 domains do not function as such. The latter point raises the question of whether, and how, these BH3 domains induce apoptosis. We show here that a peptide comprising the minimal BH3 domain from Bax induces apoptosis but is unable to stimulate the apoptotic activity of microinjected recombinant Bax. This relies on the inability of the peptide to directly induce Bax translocation to mitochondria or a change in its conformation. This peptide nevertheless interferes with Bax/Bcl-xL interactions in vitro and stimulates the apoptotic activity of Bax when combined with Bcl-xL. Similarly, a peptide derived from the BH3 domain of Bad stimulates Bax activity only in the presence of Bcl-xL. Thus, BH3 domains do not necessarily activate multidomain pro-apoptotic proteins directly but promote apoptosis by releasing active multidomain pro-apoptotic proteins from their anti-apoptotic counterparts.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U419, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.forename: Pierre-François
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Cartron
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meflah
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Evan
authors.forename: François M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Vallette
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Juin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002460:Cell Line; D019281:Dimerization; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D015870:Gene Expression; D007700:Kinetics; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D008845:Microinjections; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D014162:Transfection; D050998:bcl-2 Homologous Antagonist-Killer Protein; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; D051020:bcl-X Protein
chemical_list: C494774:Bak1 protein, rat; C474007:Bax protein (53-86); C494828:Bax protein, rat; C494813:Bcl2l1 protein, rat; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D050998:bcl-2 Homologous Antagonist-Killer Protein; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; D051020:bcl-X Protein