Intrinsically Disordered Proteins in Bcl-2 Regulated Apoptosis

• Main Authors: Gilles J. P. Rautureau, Catherine L. Day, Mark G. Hinds
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2010-04-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: apoptosis; Bcl-2; BH3-only; intrinsically disordered protein; protein structure
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/11/4/1808/

Intrinsic cell death is mediated by interaction between pro-apoptotic and pro-survival proteins of the B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) family. Members of this family are either intrinsically disordered or contain intrinsically disordered regions/domains that are critical to their function. Alternate splicing and post-translational modifications can determine the extent of these disordered regions and are critical for regulating Bcl-2 proteins. Conformational plasticity and structural transitions characterize the interactions within the Bcl-2 family, with conserved sequence motifs on both binding partners required for their molecular recognition.