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BAX unleashed: the biochemical transformation of an inactive cytosolic monomer into a toxic mitochondrial pore
Open accessAbstract
BAX, the BCL-2-associated X protein, is a cardinal proapoptotic member of the BCL-2 family, which regulates the critical balance between cellular life and death. Because so many medical conditions can be categorized as diseases of either too many or too few cells, dissecting the biochemistry of BCL-2 family proteins and developing pharmacological strategies to target them have become high priority scientific objectives. Here, we focus on BAX, a latent, cytosolic and monomeric protein that transforms into a lethal mitochondrial oligomer in response to cellular stress. New insights into the structural location of BAX's 'on switch', and the multi-step conformational changes that ensue upon BAX activation, are providing fresh opportunities to modulate BAX for potential benefit in human diseases characterized by pathologic cell survival or unwanted cellular demise.
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“Myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1) is a crucial anti-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 protein family that contributes significantly to the development of various human cancers.”
From Recent advances in targeting the “undruggable” proteins: from drug discovery to clinical trials (2023) · cites this paper as [224]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Walensky, L. D., & Gavathiotis, E.
- Affiliations
- Boston Children's Hospital (US)
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Walensky, Loren D.
- Gavathiotis, Evripidis
- Venue
- Trends in Biochemical Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-12
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 642-652
- ISSN
- 0968-0004 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3454508
- OpenAlex
- W1986722992
- Cited by
- 173
- References
- 119
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 1.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Trends in Biochemical Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R00HL095929, K99HL095929)
- National Cancer Institute (R01CA050239, 5R01CA50239)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Cell death mechanisms and regulation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac Ischemia and Reperfusion
- Keywords
- Bax, Bcl-2 family proteins, apoptosis, Bax oligomerization, conformational change, Bax activation, cell death regulation
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cytosol, Humans, Mitochondria, Models, Molecular, Apoptosis, bcl-2-Associated X Protein
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