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  • Title: Inhibition of Pro-apoptotic BAX by a noncanonical interaction mechanism.
    Author: Barclay LA, Wales TE, Garner TP, Wachter F, Lee S, Guerra RM, Stewart ML, Braun CR, Bird GH, Gavathiotis E, Engen JR, Walensky LD.
    Journal: Mol Cell; 2015 Mar 05; 57(5):873-886. PubMed ID: 25684204.
    Abstract:
    BCL-2 is a negative regulator of apoptosis implicated in homeostatic and pathologic cell survival. The canonical anti-apoptotic mechanism involves entrapment of activated BAX by a groove on BCL-2, preventing BAX homo-oligomerization and mitochondrial membrane poration. The BCL-2 BH4 domain also confers anti-apoptotic functionality, but the mechanism is unknown. We find that a synthetic α-helical BH4 domain binds to BAX with nanomolar affinity and independently inhibits the conformational activation of BAX. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry demonstrated that the N-terminal conformational changes in BAX induced by a triggering BIM BH3 helix were suppressed by the BCL-2 BH4 helix. Structural analyses localized the BH4 interaction site to a groove formed by residues of α1, α1-α2 loop, and α2-α3 and α5-α6 hairpins on the BAX surface. These data reveal a previously unappreciated binding site for targeted inhibition of BAX and suggest that the BCL-2 BH4 domain may participate in apoptosis blockade by a noncanonical interaction mechanism.
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