Description
Product Characteristics: Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a well-documented phenomenon in many cellular systems. It plays a key role in tissue and organ development as well as in adult tissues during cell turnover. Apoptosis can be induced by a variety of internal and external stimuli including growth factor deprivation, cytokine treatment, antigen-receptor engagement, cell-cell interactions, irradiation and glucocorticoid treatment. Bcl-2 and one of its homologues, Bcl-xL, protect cells from apoptosis, while other homologues of Bcl-2 such as Bax, Bad and Bak have been shown to enhance apoptosis. Bcl-xL has been shown to block apoptosis which is induced by a variety of stimuli and, under certain conditions, offers greater protection against apoptosis than Bcl-2. In contrast, Bad and Bax inhibit the protective functions of Bcl-xL and Bcl-2, respectively. Although heterodimerization between Bcl-xL/Bad and Bcl-2/Bax was originally thought to be essential for the differential anti-apoptotic activity of Bcl-xL and Bcl-2, other results suggest that the formation of heterodimers may not be necessary for this death-repressing activity.
Target Information: The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the BCL-2 protein family. BCL-2 family members form hetero- or homodimers and act as anti- or pro-apoptotic regulators that are involved in a wide variety of cellular activities. The proteins encoded by this gene are located at the outer mitochondrial membrane, and have been shown to regulate outer mitochondrial membrane channel (VDAC) opening. VDAC regulates mitochondrial membrane potential, and thus controls the production of reactive oxygen species and release of cytochrome C by mitochondria, both of which are the potent inducers of cell apoptosis. Two alternatively spliced transcript variants, which encode distinct isoforms, have been reported. The longer isoform acts as an apoptotic inhibitor and the shorter form acts as an apoptotic activator. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]