Study of the Bcl-2 Interactome by BiFC Reveals Differences in the Activation Mechanism of Bax and Bak.

Evasion of apoptosis is one of the hallmarks of cancer cells. Proteins of the Bcl-2 family are key regulators of the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis, and alterations in some of these proteins are frequently found in cancer cells. Permeabilization of the outer mitochondrial membrane, regulated by pro- and antiapoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family of proteins, is essential for the release of apoptogenic factors leading to caspase activation, cell dismantlement, and death.

Effect of different bypass rates and unit area ratio in hybrid constructed wetlands.

This study presents the performance of a hybrid constructed wetland (Bp(VF + HF)) system which consists of an unsaturated vertical flow (VF) unit followed by a saturated down-flow unit simulating horizontal flow (HF) with HF/VF area ratio of 0.5 and influent bypass to the HF unit. Treating synthetic wastewater simulating municipal wastewater, optimum total nitrogen (TN) removal (57%) was reached at 39% bypass and surface loading rate (SLR) of 33 g BOD/m day and 9.

Anti-tumoral potential of a human granulysin-based, CEA-targeted cytolytic immunotoxin.

Granulysin is a protein present in the granules of human cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and natural killer (NK) cells, with cytolytic activity against microbes and tumors. Previous work demonstrated the therapeutic effect of intratumoral injection of recombinant granulysin using models of breast cancer and multiple myeloma. In the present work we have developed a granulysin gene fusion to the anti-carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA/CEACAM5) single chain Fv antibody fragment MFE23.

Multifaceted anticancer activity of BH3 mimetics: Current evidence and future prospects.

BH3 mimetics are a novel class of anticancer agents designed to specifically target pro-survival proteins of the Bcl-2 family. Like endogenous BH3-only proteins, BH3 mimetics competitively bind to surface hydrophobic grooves of pro-survival Bcl-2 family members, counteracting their protective effects and thus facilitating apoptosis in cancer cells. Among the small-molecule BH3 mimetics identified, ABT-737 and its analogs, obatoclax as well as gossypol derivatives are the best characterized.