title: Phylogenomics of life-or-death switches in multicellular animals: Bcl-2, BH3-Only, and BNip families of apoptotic regulators.
abstract: In this report, we conducted a comprehensive survey of Bcl-2 family members, a divergent group of proteins that regulate programmed cell death by an evolutionarily conserved mechanism. Using comparative sequence analysis, we found novel sequences in mammals, nonmammalian vertebrates, and in a number of invertebrates. We then asked what conclusions could be drawn from phyletic distribution, intron/exon structures, sequence/structure relationships, and phylogenetic analyses within the updated Bcl-2 family. First, multidomain members having a sequence pattern consistent with the conservation of the Bcl-X(L)/Bax/Bid topology appear to be restricted to multicellular animals and may share a common ancestry. Next, BNip proteins, which were originally identified based on their ability to bind to E1B 19K/Bcl-2 proteins, form three independent monophyletic branches with different evolutionary history. Lastly, a set of Bcl-2 homology 3-only proteins with unrelated secondary structures seems to have evolved after the origin of Metazoa and exhibits diverse expansion after speciation during vertebrate evolution.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France. aouacher@biomserv.univ-lyon1.fr
authors.forename: Abdel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aouacheria
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brunet
authors.forename: Manolo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gouy
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2