Bcl-2 family members do not inhibit apoptosis by binding the caspase activator Apaf-1
Details
Publication Year 1999-08-17,Volume 96,Issue #17,Page 9683-9688
Journal Title
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Publication Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The Bcl-2 family of proteins regulates apoptosis, the cell death program triggered by activation of certain proteases (caspases), An attractive model for how Bcl-2 and its closest relatives prevent caspase activation is that they bind to and inactivate an adaptor protein required for procaspase processing. That model has been supported by reports that mammalian prosurvival Bcl-2 relatives bind the adaptor Apaf-1, which activates procaspase-9, However, the itt vivo association studies reported here with both overexpressed and endogenous Apaf-1 challenge this notion. Apaf-1 could be immunoprecipitated together with procaspase-9, and the Apaf-1 caspase-recruitment domain was necessary and sufficient for their interaction, Apaf-1 did not bind, however, to any of the six known mammalian prosurvival family members (Bcl-2, Bcl-x(L), Bcl-w, A1, Mel-1, or Boo), or their viral homologs adenovirus E1B 19K and Epstein-Barr virus BHRF-1. Endogenous Apaf-1 also failed to coimmunoprecipitate with endogenous Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL, or with two proapoptotic relatives (Bax and Bim), Moreover, apoptotic stimuli did not induce Apaf-1 to bind to these family members. Thus, the prosurvival Bcl-2 homologs do not appear to act by sequestering Apaf-1 and probably instead constrain its activity indirectly.
Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
Keywords
PROGRAMMED CELL-DEATH; CYTOCHROME-C RELEASE; CED-3 ACTIVATION; ELEGANS CED-4; PROTEIN; MITOCHONDRIA; PATHWAYS; BCL-X(L); OLIGOMERIZATION; MICROINJECTION
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Creation Date: 1999-08-17 12:00:00
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