Journal article

Building blocks of the apoptotic pore: how Bax and Bak are activated and oligomerize during apoptosis

D Westphal, RM Kluck, G Dewson

CELL DEATH AND DIFFERENTIATION | NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP | Published : 2014

Abstract

The central role of the Bcl-2 family in regulating apoptotic cell death was first identified in the 1980s. Since then, significant in-roads have been made in identifying the multiple members of this family, characterizing their form and function and understanding how their interactions determine whether a cell lives or dies. In this review we focus on the recent progress made in characterizing the proapoptotic Bcl-2 family members, Bax and Bak. This progress has resolved longstanding controversies, but has also challenged established theories in the apoptosis field. We will discuss different models of how these two proteins become activated and different 'modes' by which they are inhibited b..

View full abstract

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

We thank Rachel Uren and Peter Czabotar for critical reading of the manuscript, and Colin Hockings for advice. DW is supported by a Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) postdoctoral fellowship (Germany). GD and RK are supported by Australian Research Council Future Fellowships. The work was supported by operational infrastructure grants through the Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure Support and the Australian Government NHMRC IRIISS.