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Bax insert into the mitochondrial outer membrane to form apoptotic pore

Author: Zhang Qing
by Zhang Qing
Posted: Oct 14, 2014

Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death (PCD) that may occur in multicellular organisms. Oligomerization of Bax or Bax disrupts mitochondrial outer membrane( MOM ) integrity is looked as the "point of no return" in apoptosis. Here, from the side of structure, we offer a different mechanism of the role of Bax in apoptotic pore formation. Bax is primarily cytosolic, accumulating at the MOM after an apoptotic signal and inserting its?9.

Firstly, we developed a novel cysteine-accessibility approach to distinguish Bak residues on the protein surface from those buried in the MOM and detects transient conformation changes.

These structural, biophysical, and biochemical data now all strongly suggest that, during pore formation, neither?5 nor?6 insert across the MOM as TM domains, and that?5 remains with?2–?4 in the core, whereas?6 separates from the core and shallowly inserts into the membrane. Thus, many?5 and?6 residues in oligomeric Bax were exposed to Iasd, arguing strongly against?5 and?6 spanning the MOM as a TM hairpin.

From this study, we suggest that stable pores will result when oligomers corral the imposed surface tension within focused regions by forming circles of variable size and that only?9 represents a conventional TM domain.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline and psychiatric problems. Cause of HD for all the patients is known: an aberrant expansion of the polymorphic trinucleotide sequence Cag (in the range of 37–121 repeats) at the N-terminus of the huntingtin (Htt) protein.

Disruption in the activity of gene expression regulators, such as chromatin-remodeling proteins, transcription factors, and non-coding RNAs, are responsible for the expression changes detected in multiple animal and cellular models of HD and in samples from patients.

The basal ganglia and, in particular, the striatum, wherein the GABAergic medium spiny neurons (MSN) are especially sensitive, generally show an early marked degeneration that extends to other brain areas in later stages of the disease. PGC-1? is a transcriptional coactivator that regulates the expression of mitochondrial genes among other targets. Its potential relevance in HD has been suggested by a specific decrease in PGC-1? in the postmortemcaudate nucleus of HD patients.

The compilation and integration of genome-wide data, including transcriptomics, proteomics, Epigenomics, and genomic occupancy, will be essential for the full comprehension of the biological implications of transcriptional dysregulation in HD and to explore the full potential of genome-wide approaches in the design of improved therapeutics.

About the Author

Numerologist Warda is hooked on OG-L002 fishing, collecting. And lastly her encouragement comes from socializing along with her companions.

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Author: Zhang Qing

Zhang Qing

Member since: Oct 29, 2013
Published articles: 172

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