title: Overexpression of Bax inhibitor-1 (BI-1) induces cell transformation in NIH3T3 cells.
abstract: BI-1 (Bax inhibitor-1), an apoptosis-inhibiting gene belonging to the Bcl-2 protein family, plays an important role in mitochondrial apoptosis pathway to suppress Bax-induced apoptosis. To investigate the potential role of BI-1 in promoting cell growth and tumorigenesis, in the present study we overexpressed the BI-1 gene in NIH3T3 cells using the lentivirus-mediated gene expression system. Our in vitro studies showed that NIH3T3 cells overexpressing BI-1 displayed a significantly higher growth rate and formed more and larger colonies than the control cells. In addition, our in vivo studies indicated that the lenti-BI-1-infected cells formed obvious tumours, while no tumours were formed by the control cells after subcutaneously injected into nude mice. These results strongly suggested that the BI-1 gene might play a crucial role in neoplastic genesis and development.
authors.affiliation: Center of Clinical Gene Diagnosis, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Hubei, China. xyli75@126.com
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiang-yong
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang-chao
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ke-yuan
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mei-hong
authors.forename: Luo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hai-qing
authors.forename: Kung
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hsiang-fu
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins