Apoptotic cell death induced by c-myc is inhibited by bcl-2. |
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Authors: | R P Bissonnette F Echeverri A Mahboubi D R Green |
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Affiliation: | Division of Cellular Immunology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, California 92037. |
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Abstract: | Apoptosis is a form of physiological cell death, characterized by chromatin condensation, cytoplasmic blebbing and DNA fragmentation, which often depends on RNA and protein synthesis by the dying cell. The c-myc proto-oncogene, usually implicated in cell transformation, differentiation and cell-cycle progression also has a central role in some forms of apoptosis. These opposing roles of myc in cell growth and death require that other gene products dictate the outcome of c-Myc expression on a cell. A candidate for such a modifying gene is bcl-2, whose product prolongs cell survival and blocks apoptosis in some systems. Here we demonstrate that Bcl-2 prevents apoptotic death induced by c-Myc, provide a mechanism whereby cells can express c-Myc without undergoing apoptosis, and give a possible explanation for the ability of Bcl-2 to synergize with c-Myc in cell transformation. |
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