B-cell lymphoma protein 2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), key antiapoptotic and proapoptotic proteins, respectively, have important roles in acute and chronic models of neurologic disease. Several studies have implicated Bax and Bcl-2 in mediating neurotoxicity in prion diseases. To determine whether diminishing apoptotic cell death is protective in an infectious prion disease mod...

The Bcl-2 proteins Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) and Bcl-2 antagonist killer 1 (Bak) can commit cells to apoptosis. Retrotranslocation of Bax from the mitochondria into the cytosol is essential for cell survival. Recently, we reported that Bak is also present in the cytosol of healthy cells and that Bax and Bak are regulated by the same retrotranslocation process.

Multiple molecular resistance mechanisms reduce the efficiency of receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as gefitinib in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We previously demonstrated that amphiregulin (Areg) inhibits gefitinib-induced apoptosis in NSCLC cells by inactivating the proapoptotic protein BAX. In this part of the investigation, we studied the molecular mechanisms leading to BAX in...

Cytochrome c release from mitochondria is a key event in apoptosis signaling that is regulated by Bcl-2 family proteins. Cleavage of the BH3-only protein Bid by multiple proteases leads to the formation of truncated Bid (tBid), which, in turn, promotes the oligomerization/insertion of Bax into the mitochondrial outer membrane and the resultant release of proteins residing in the intermembrane s...

Bax, a proapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family, localizes largely in the cytoplasm but translocates to mitochondria and undergoes oligomerization to induce the release of apoptogenic factors in response to apoptotic stimuli. However, the molecular mechanism of Bax activation is not fully understood. We show here the role of BimL in Bax activation during UV irradiation-induced apoptosis. In this...

Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) has been shown to modulate cell death via PI3K/Akt signal pathway in various cells. In the present study, the effects of ALA on cell death and PI3K/Akt signal pathway linked to cell death-related proteins during endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in FRTL5 thyroid cells were evaluated. In FRTL5 thyroid cells, cell viability increased by ALA pretreatment in tunicamycin (TN)...

Sympathetic premotor neurons for the maintenance of vasomotor tone are located in rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). We demonstrated previously that overproduction of nitric oxide (NO) by inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in RVLM, leading to caspase 3-dependent apoptotic cell death, plays a pivotal role in cardiovascular depression during endotoxemia induced by intravenous administration of Esche...

we have previously shown that the proliferative response of t cells to antigenic or mitogenic stimulus decreased with age and that caloric resection (cr) attenuated the age-related decline in proliferation and il-2 expression. because activation-induced apoptosis is known to regulate cell proliferation and eliminate the high number of activated cells during an immune response, it was of interes...

Ku70, a DNA repair factor in the nucleus, also regulates cell death by binding to the apoptotic protein Bax in the cytoplasm. Acetylation of Ku70 triggers Bax release resulting in Bax dependent cell death. Thus dissociating Bax from Ku70, either by inhibiting histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) that deacetylates Ku70 or by increasing Ku70 acetylation induces cell death. Our results showed that in neu...

This study aimed to investigate the possible protective effects of Tarantula cubensis extract (TCE) on liver and brain rats exposed gentamicin (GM). A total 40 male Sprague Dawley were randomly divided into four equal groups: control, TCE, GM, GM+TCE. Some biochemical indices, apoptotic markers (B-cell lymphoma 2 [Bcl-2] Bcl-2 associated X protein [Bax]) histopathological changes evaluated. In ...