Bcl-2 family members and disease.
Apoptosis plays an important role during development and in the maintenance of multicellular organisms. Bcl-2 family members affect cell death in either a positive or negative fashion. Although some redundancy exists between family members, expression of certain family members is important during development in an organ-specific manner. The founding family member bcl-2 tends to be highly expressed in the embryo and declines postnatally following differentiation and maturation. Altered expression of bcl-2, as well as other family members, has been observed in disease states potentially affecting treatment modalities. Here we examine the distribution and role death repressors bcl-2, bcl-x(L) and bcl-w as well as death effectors bax and bak play regulating apoptosis in a tissue-specific manner. Understanding the normal role of these proteins during embryogenesis and in the mature organ will give us important insight into what goes awry in various disease states.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, H4/444 CSC, 600 Highland Ave., Madison, WI 53792-4108, USA. cmsorenson@facstaff.wisc.edu
Christine M
CM
Sorenson
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2