BAX Proteins

Protein Information

BAX is a members of the Bcl-2 Family and plays an important role in regulation of apoptosis. Whereas Bcl-2 is commonly regarded as an anti-apoptotic protein, BAX is considered to have a pro-apoptotic function. Regulation of apoptosis is supposed to involve both homo- and heterodimerization of different isoforms of BAX and Bcl-2. The Bax gene encodes different isoforms including Bax alpha (21 kDa) and Bax beta (24 kDa), whereas both isoforms contain the BH1, BH2 and BH3 domains, Bax beta has a unique carboxyl terminus and does not contain a hydrophobic transmembrane domain. Bcl-2 is also expressed in different Isoforms. Bcl-2 beta differs in the 3' UTR and coding region compared to variant alpha. Bcl-2 beta is shorter (22 kDa) and has a distinct C-terminus compared to Bcl-2 alpha (26 kDa). BAX is a member of the BCL-2 family of proteins, which function as regulators of apoptosis. Overexpression of BAX functions to promote cell death. BAX can form homodimers and is also able to heterodimerize with other BCL-2 related proteins.

Synonyms

Apoptosis regulator BAX; BAX; Bax zeta; BAX-ALPHA; Bax-alpha protein; Baxdelta2G9; Baxdelta2G9omega; Baxdelta2omega; BCL2 associated X protein; BCL2 associated X, apoptosis regulator; BCL2-associated X protein; BCL2-associated X protein omega; BCL2L4; bcl2-L-4; bcl-2-like protein 4; LOC100355675