The E1B 19-kilodalton protein (19K protein) is a potent apoptosis inhibitor and the adenovirus homolog of Bcl-2 (E. White, Genes Dev. 10:1-15, 1996). To obtain a better understanding of the biochemical mechanism by which the E1B 19K protein regulates apoptosis, proteins that interact with 19K have been identified; one of these is Bax (J. Han, P. Sabbatini, D. Perez, L. Rao, D. Mohda, and E. Whi...

There is a constant need for better stroke treatments. Neurons at the periphery of an ischemic stroke affected brain tissue remains metabolically active for several hours or days after stroke onset. They later undergo mitochondrion-mediated apoptosis. It has been found that inhibiting apoptosis in the peripheral ischemic neurons could be very effective in the prevention of stroke progression. D...

The proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L) prevent apoptosis, but their mechanism of action is unclear. We examined the role of Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L) in the regulation of cytosolic Ca(2+), nitric oxide production (NO), c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK) activation, and apoptosis in Jurkat T cells. Thapsigargin (TG), an inhibitor of the endoplasmic reticulum-associated Ca(2+) ATPase, was used to disrupt Ca(2+)...

BACKGROUND CD40 engagement enhances eosinophil survival, suggesting a role for this receptor in the development of eosinophilia. OBJECTIVE We examined whether CD40 enhances eosinophil survival by inducing the expression of antiapoptotic proteins. Three members of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family, namely cellular (c)-IAP1, c-IAP2, and XIAP, and 2 antiapoptotic proteins of the Bc...

The Bcl-2 (Bcl is B-cell lymphocytic-leukaemia proto-oncogene) family comprises two groups of proteins with distinct functional biology in cell-fate signalling. Bcl-2 protein was the first member to be discovered and associated with drug resistance in human lymphomas. Since then a host of other proteins such as Bcl-xL, Bcl-2A1 and Mcl-1 with similar anti-apoptotic functions have been identified...

近年アポトーシスの研究があらゆる分野で進歩し, これらの研究によりアルツハイマー病にみられる神経 細胞死やAIDSによるT細胞の減少もアポトーシス の亢進,逆に自己免疫疾患や癌はアポトーシスの抑制 によるという病態の解明がなされ,さらに治療にも貢 献してきた.そして癌細胞においてもアポトーシス が正常に進行出来なくなる疾患として捉えられてい る.この過程には,アポトーシスの誘導に関与する c-myc,c-fos,c-jun などの癌原遺伝子,p 53 癌抑制遺 伝子,さらにアポトーシス抑制 bcl-2 遺伝子などが重 要な役割を果たしている.一方,生体内の酸素濃度, pH,ホルモン,蛋白などの生理的因子の他に,温熱, 紫外線,抗癌剤などの物理的刺激も細胞にアポトーシ スを誘導する.そして太田 はアポトーシスのシグナル 伝達機構の中心的役割をになっている細胞内小器官の ミトコンドリヤが...

The Bcl-2 family of proteins plays a critical role regulating apoptosis, and pro-survival Bcl-2 family members are important therapeutic targets due to their overexpression in different cancers. Pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 homology 3 (BH3)-only proteins antagonize pro-survival Bcl-2 protein functions by binding directly to them, and a sub-class of BH3-only proteins termed sensitizers can initiate apopt...