Bax is a key regulator of apoptosis that, under cell stress, accumulates at mitochondria, where it oligomerizes to mediate the permeabilization of the mitochondrial outer membrane leading to cytochrome c release and cell death. However, the underlying mechanism behind Bax function remains poorly understood. Here, we studied the spatial organization of Bax in apoptotic cells using dual-color sin...

UNLABELLED Loss of apoptotic Bax due to microsatellite mutation contributes to tumor development and chemoresistance. Recently, a Bax microsatellite mutation was uncovered in combination with a specific alternative splicing event that could generate a unique Bax isoform (BaxΔ2) in otherwise Bax-negative cells. Like the prototype Baxα, BaxΔ2 is a potent proapoptotic molecule. However, the proapo...

Motoneurons in the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) and their target muscles in the perineum, bulbocavernosus (BC), and levator ani (LA) normally degenerate in female rodents. Death of the motoneurons and muscles can be prevented by androgen treatments around the time of birth. To identify the intracellular mechanisms underlying hormone-dependent survival of this neuromuscular system...

PURPOSE The process of photoreceptor cell death in retinitis pigmentosa is still not well characterized, and identification of common mechanisms will be instrumental for development of therapeutic strategies. Here we investigated activation of Bax in rd1, P23H transgenic, and Rho knockout retinas. METHODS Bax activation was evaluated by immunofluorescence using anti-activated Bax-specific ant...

The ARF and p53 tumor suppressors mediate Myc-induced apoptosis and suppress lymphoma development in E mu-myc transgenic mice. Here we report that the proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bax also mediates apoptosis triggered by Myc and inhibits Myc-induced lymphomagenesis. Bax-deficient primary pre-B cells are resistant to the apoptotic effects of Myc, and Bax loss accelerates lymphoma development...

objective: to evaluate the mrna expression ratio of bcl-2/bax both in normal and tumoral bladder tissues of patients with transitional cell carcinoma (tcc) of bladder and investigate potential correlation between this expression ratio and clinical outcome. materials and methods: in this experimental study, we used real time-pcr to investigate the expression of bcl-2 and bax both in normal and t...

Bax is required for the apoptotic death of sympathetic neurons deprived of nerve growth factor (NGF). After NGF withdrawal, Bax translocates from the cytoplasm to the mitochondria of these cells and induces release of the proapoptotic protein cytochrome c. Here, we report that withdrawing NGF from mouse sympathetic neurons caused an increase of mitochondria-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS)...

The Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) protein Bax (Bcl-2 associated X, apoptosis regulator) can commit cells to apoptosis via outer mitochondrial membrane permeabilization. Bax activity is controlled in healthy cells by prosurvival Bcl-2 proteins. C-terminal Bax transmembrane domain interactions were implicated recently in Bax pore formation. Here, we show that the isolated transmembrane domains of Bax...

To investigate the role of BAX in chemotherapy-induced apoptosis, we transfected the SW626 human ovarian cancer cell line, which lacks functional p53, with a cDNA encoding for murine BAX. Immunoblotting revealed that BAX transfectants expressed a mean of 10-fold increased levels of BAX compared with neo-transfected control clones, with similar levels of BCL-2 and BCL-xL. The cytotoxicity of pac...