Bcl-2-deficient mice demonstrate fulminant lymphoid apoptosis, polycystic kidneys, and hypopigmented hair

BH3-only proteins and their roles in programmed cell death

“…The various phenotypes illustrate the different requirements for these proteins in different cell types and at various stages of development. Bcl-2-deficient mice develop polycystic kidney disease and profound lymphopenia and turn gray as a result of the loss of melanocyte stem cells (Veis et al, 1993;Nakayama et al, 1994). These mice fail to thrive and die early of renal failure.…”

t(14;18), a journey to eternity

“…These mice ultimately die of renal failure due to severe polycystic kidney disease. [49][50][51] B and T cell numbers are initially normal and both cell types demonstrate normal proliferative responses. Massive cell death occurs in the lymphoid compartment soon after birth and results in lymphocytopenia.…”

GRS, a novel member of the Bcl-2 gene family, is highly expressed in multiple cancer cell lines and in normal leukocytes

“…Bcl-2 functions in the process of programmed cell death and has been shown to block apoptosis (Hockenbery et al, 1990) in the absence of cell proliferation (Vaux et al, 1988). However, Bcl-2 de®cient mice exhibit normal prenatal developement although Bcl-2 expression is widespread during embryonic development (Veis et al, 1993). This implies the existence of other gene family members also involved in the regulation of apoptosis.…”

“…Lack of expression in T cells prior to activation and low level expression in K-562 cells, which have been placed within the hematopoietic lineage as multipotent stem cells (Fraser and Berridge, 1987;Leary et al, 1987), suggests further that GRS may not be expressed in early-lineage cells and that expression is limited within the hematopoietic compartment to more di erentiated cell types. However, whether GRS mimics Bcl-2 and is also expressed in the earliest pluripotent stem cells (Veis et al, 1993) is as yet unknown.…”