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Apoptosis Regulator BAX

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Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules
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Synonyms

BAX; Bcl-2-associated X protein; Bcl-2-like protein 4; BCL2L4

Historical Background

Bax is a proapoptotic protein encoded by Bax gene belonging to B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein family. Bcl-2 family is classified into two groups: antiapoptotic proteins (e.g., Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bcl-w, Mcl-1, and A1) and proapoptotic proteins according to their different functions. proapoptotic proteins are comprised of multidomain proteins (e.g., Bax and Bak) and BH3-only proteins (e.g., Bid, Bim, Puma, Bad, Noxa, Bik, Bmf, and Hrk) based on the presence of Bcl-2 homology domains (BH1–4 domains) (Liu et al. 2016a, b; Han et al. 2015). Interactions between Bcl-2 protein members regulate the mitochondrial signaling which is critical for normal cellular homeostasis and participates in the pathogenesis of different diseases including cancer, diabetes, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders.

Bax was originally identified as a heterodimer with Bcl-2 in 1993 (Oltvai et al. 1993). Overexpressed Bax...

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Correspondence to Jia Zhou .

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Liu, Z., Chen, H., Zhou, J. (2018). Apoptosis Regulator BAX. In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67199-4_101518

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