Apoptose et Gènes Anti-Apoptotiques de la Famille Bcl-2

Abstract

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is an active process of self-destruction, described a long time ago. However, the understanding of the molecular pathways which regulate programmed cell death is more recent and far from complete. Apoptosis occurs during embryonic and foetal development, and tissue remodeling, and its purpose is to assure homeo stasis of cells and tissues. Apoptosis-defining morphological and biochemical changes are now well documented. Many physiological and non-physiological factors have been described as inducers of apoptosis. Several genes affecting various steps in programmed cell death must be expressed to trigger apoptosis. For example, ced-3 and ced-4 in the nematode C. elegans, and ICE, a gene found in mammals. In addition, the existence of genes suppressing apoptosis, like the human bcl-2 gene and a family of related bcl-2 genes was recently described. Several data dealing with these family of anti-apoptotic genes and some of their mechanisms of action are now currently avail...