Bad (A17) Antibody from MyBioSource.com

Bcl-2 family of proteins is a key regulator of apoptosis that function to either inhibit or promote cell death. The over expression of members such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL inhibit the apoptotic process (1.2). The Bcl-2 family members are also characterized by dimerizing to further modulate apoptosis. Bag-1. for example. has been found to form a heterodimer with Bcl-2 resulting in the enhancement of the anti-apoptotic effect of Bcl-2 (3.4). Other anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members include A1. Bcl-xg. Bcl-xb. Mcl-1. BAR. BI-1 and Bcl-w (5). The pro-apoptotic family members include Bax. Bcl-xS. Bad. Bak. NBK. BID. Hrk. Bok. Bim. Noxa and Diva. Bax and Bak have been shown to play a critical role in cytochrome c release from mitochondria and thus initiate apoptosis (6). Bad plays a critical role in the Bax-mediated apoptosis pathway by dimerizing with Bcl-xL. causing the displacment of Bax. The displacement of Bax allows apoptosis to proceed (7). Bcl-xS. a shorter version of Bcl-xL (lacking amino acids 126-188). apparently utilizes a different pathway than Bax to induce cell death. Some research suggests that Bcl-xS uses a novel mechanism for regulating caspase or it may use an alternate cell death effector pathway (8.9).