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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Examining BCL-2 Family Function with Large Unilamellar Vesicles
Published on: October 5, 2012
The overexpression of Bcl-2 antagonizes the proapoptotic function of the kappa-opioid receptor
Naisum Wong1, Catherine Teimei Diao, Takming Wong
1Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. nswong@hkucc.hku.hk
Abstract:
Opioid receptors are G-protein-coupled cell-surface receptors that are mainly expressed in neuronal cells. Stimulation of the kappa-opioid receptor expressed by cultured human epithelial cancer cells promotes staurosporine-induced apoptosis. In this study, while Bcl-2 did not inhibit staurosporine-induced apoptosis, it did inhibit the kappa-opioid receptor-mediated potentiation of apoptosis. The results suggest that Bcl-2 targets a step that is specific to the signaling pathway of the kappa-opioid receptor.
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