Bax activation and mitochondrial insertion during apoptosis

Abstract

The mitochondrial apoptotic pathway is a highly regulated biological mechanism which determines cell fate. It is defined as a cascade of events, going from an apoptotic stimulus to the MOM permeabilization, resulting in the activation of the so-called executive phase. This pathway is very often altered in cancer cells.

Biochemical effects of combined action of ?-irradiation and paclitaxel on anaplastic thyroid cancer cells

“…5, a, 1; 5, B). One of the possible consequences of the p53 accumulation is transactivation of the genes whose products initiate apoptosis, particularly of proapoptotic protein Bax gene, which is one of the key factors in the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis [10]. It is shown on Figs.…”

The PI3K/Akt pathway inhibits influenza A virus-induced Bax-mediated apoptosis by negatively regulating the JNK pathway via ASK1

“…Bax is one of the pro-apoptotic proteins that reside in the cytoplasm in non-apoptotic cells. In response to apoptotic stimuli, Bax is activated by a conformational change, resulting in exposure of its NH 2 terminus and translocation of the protein to the mitochondrial membrane (Lalier et al, 2007). We therefore investigated Bax translocation in virus-infected A549 cells.…”

Hierarchical involvement of Bak, VDAC1 and Bax in cisplatin-induced cell death

“…On the other hand, Bax is normally located in the cytosol in a monomeric form. The activation of Bax involves the formation of an active dimer that translocates to OM to promote the assembly of large oligomeric pores (Lalier et al, 2007). Obviously, both Bax and Bak have to change their overall conformation to become activated, and this can be detected with conformation-specific monoclonal antibodies.…”