No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
All aspects of cellular biology somehow impinge on the process of programmed cell death, or apoptosis. Furthermore, disruption of apoptosis is a causative event in many human pathologies, especially cancer. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of all signaling pathways that interact with and affect the function of direct apoptotic regulators will increase our knowledge of basic cellular functions, as well as the etiologies of many diseases. One family of proteins that can regulate cellular death following apoptotic stimuli is the BCL2-family of proteins. The basic mechanism by which BCL2 family members regulate apoptosis has been known for well over a decade, but nuances and subtleties are constantly coming to light. This Prospect article focuses on the non-canonical regulators of the BCL2-family of proteins, especially the void in our understanding of such interactions and the controversy that surrounds such interactions. Only when we completely understand how BCL2 proteins are regulated will we be able to modulate their activities for positive clinical outcomes.
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
Rad9 protein is best known for its roles in cell cycle checkpoints and DNA repair as part of the Rad9-Hus1-Rad1 (9-1-1) complex, which has a critical function in maintaining genomic stability. Rad9, however, has additional roles unrelated to 9-1-1. Recent studies indicate that the protein can specif