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    Cell. 1993 Aug 27;74(4):597-608.

    bcl-x, a bcl-2-related gene that functions as a dominant regulator of apoptotic cell death.

    Boise LH, González-García M, Postema CE, Ding L, Lindsten T, Turka LA, Mao X, Nuñez G, Thompson CB.

    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637.

    We report the isolation of bcl-x, a bcl-2-related gene that can function as a bcl-2-independent regulator of programmed cell death (apoptosis). Alternative splicing results in two distinct bcl-x mRNAs. The protein product of the larger mRNA, bcl-xL, is similar in size and predicted structure to Bcl-2. When stably transfected into an IL-3-dependent cell line, bcl-xL inhibits cell death upon growth factor withdrawal at least as well as bcl-2. Surprisingly, the second mRNA species, bcl-xS, encodes a protein that inhibits the ability of bcl-2 to enhance the survival of growth factor-deprived cells. In vivo, bcl-xS mRNA is expressed at high levels in cells that undergo a high rate of turnover, such as developing lymphocytes. In contrast, bcl-xL is found in tissues containing long-lived postmitotic cells, such as adult brain. Together these data suggest that bcl-x plays an important role in both positive and negative regulation of programmed cell death.

    PMID: 8358789 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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