Bak and Bax regulation by other Bcl-2 family proteins.
The killing function of Bak and Bax is blocked by Bcl-2 proteins such as Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and Mcl–1, although the molecular mechanisms involved remain the topic of significant debate. Based on our recent finding that Bak starts to become an activated killer protein by exposing its BH3 domain, we are testing whether this domain can be captured by the prosurvival proteins to prevent the cell from dying. This project also involves a range of molecular and cellular techniques, including cysteine cross-linking as described above.
Understanding how the pro-apoptotic Bak and Bax proteins interact with their prosurvival guardians is important for the current development of anti-cancer agents that target the Bcl-2 protein family e.g. BH3-mimetics.
