Michelle S Miller, Angus D Cowan, Jason M Brouwer, Sean T Smyth, Liuyu Peng, Ahmad Z Wardak, Rachel T Uren, Cindy Luo, Michael J Roy, Sayali Shah, Ziwen Tan, Gavin E Reid, Peter M Colman, Peter E Czabotar
The B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) family members, BCL2-associated protein X (BAX) and BCL2 homologous antagonist killer (BAK), are required for programmed cell death via the mitochondrial pathway. When cells are stressed, damaged or redundant, the balance of power between the BCL2 family of proteins shifts towards BAX and BAK, allowing their transition from an inactive, monomeric state to a membrane-active oligomeric form that releases cytochrome c from the mitochondrial intermembrane space. That oligomeric state has an essential intermediate, a symmetric homodimer of BAX or BAK...
December 13, 2023: FEBS Journal