title: Bcl-2 proteins in diabetes: mitochondrial pathways of β-cell death and dysfunction.
abstract: Diabetes is a metabolic disease affecting nearly 300 million individuals worldwide. Both types of diabetes (1 and 2) are characterized by loss of functional pancreatic β-cell mass causing different degrees of insulin deficiency. The Bcl-2 family has a double-edged effect in diabetes. These proteins are crucial controllers of the mitochondrial pathway of β-cell apoptosis induced by pro-inflammatory cytokines or lipotoxicity. In parallel, some Bcl-2 members also regulate glucose metabolism and β-cell function. In this review, we describe the role of Bcl-2 proteins in β-cell homeostasis and death. We focus on how these proteins interact, their contribution to the crosstalk between endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial permeabilization, their context-dependent usage following different pro-apoptotic stimuli, and their role in β-cell physiology.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik, 808, 1070, Brussels, Belgium. egurzov@ulb.ac.be
authors.forename: Esteban N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Gurzov
authors.forename: Decio L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Eizirik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016923:Cell Death; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2