title: ChBax/Bak as key regulators of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway: cloned and characterized in Crassostrea hongkongensis.
abstract: Apoptosis has been primarily investigated in mammals, and little is known about apoptosis in mollusks. The proteins Bax and Bak play critical roles in the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway and in determining cell fate. In this study, ChBax and ChBak, homologs of the well-known Bax and Bak proteins, were identified from the oyster Crassostrea hongkongensis. The ChBax/Bak proteins consist of 207/232 amino acids with the typical domains found in BCL-2 family members. ChBax and ChBak mRNA expression were detected in all 8 of the selected oyster tissues and at the different stages of development. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that the full-length proteins of ChBax/Bak were located in the cytoplasm and mitochondrial outer membrane, of HEK293T cells, respectively. Furthermore, both of the genes' expression levels were found to increase in the hemocytes of oysters challenged with pathogens. The over-expression of ChBax or ChBak activates the p53-Luc reporter gene in HEK293T cells in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that ChBax and ChBak may play important roles in the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in oysters.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Zhiming
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, Guangdong, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Fufa
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, Guangdong, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Fuxuan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jun
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou 510301, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: carlzyu@scsio.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Ziniu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D049896:Crassostrea / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D050998:bcl-2 Homologous Antagonist-Killer Protein / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D050998:bcl-2 Homologous Antagonist-Killer Protein; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein
keywords: ChBak; ChBax; Crassostrea hongkongensis; Mitochondrial pathway