Scientific Background: | The Bcl-2 family of proteins regulate the intrinsic apoptotic pathway and are characterized by the sharing of at least one of four conserved Bcl-2 Homology (BH) domains. Bcl-2 family members function as either pro- or anti-apoptotic factors, and are generally categorized into three groups based on structural homology and function. Bcl-2-like proteins (Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bcl-w, A1, and Mcl-1) are pro-survival. Pro-apoptotic members can be sub-divided into two groups: the multi-BH domain group, including Bax, Bak, and Bok; and the more numerous and diverse BH3-only group, which includes Bim, Bad, and Bid. |