Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Three-Dimensional Bone Extracellular Matrix Model for Osteosarcoma
Published on: April 12, 2019
Role of Mtd/Bok in normal and neoplastic B-cell development in the bursa of Fabricius
Cheryl Y Brown1, Sandra J Bowers, Gibert Loring
1Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Divisions of Basic Science and Human Biology, 1100 Fairview Avenue N., C2-023, P.O. Box 19024, Seattle, WA 9819-1024, USA.
Abstract:
B-cell development in the bursa of Fabricius is accompanied by extensive apoptotic cell death. Apoptosis, however, is suppressed during c-myc-induced neoplasia. The experiments described here suggest that Mtd/Bok may drive apoptosis during normal development, and that this activity is blocked during myc-induced tumorigenesis. Bursal Mtd/Bok expression increases during development, correlating with the onset of intense, spontaneous apoptosis after hatching. Two isoforms of Mtd/Bok were characterized: WT-chMtd/Bok, found predominantly in the mitochondria and a less abundant form, lacking the presumptive transmembrane domain, Mtd/Bok deltaTM, found predominantly in the cytosol. Over-expression of Mtd/Bok deltaTM in a bursal lymphoma-derived cell line, DT40, reduced mitochondrial function and sensitized DT40 cells to apoptotic stimuli, while WT-chMtd/Bok had a diminished phenotype in these cells. In contrast, retroviral transduction of bursal stem cells with WT-chMtd/Bok ablated normal stem cell function in transplantation experiments, and produced extensive apoptosis in myc-induced pre-neoplastic bursal populations, but not in tumor cells.
Related Concept Videos
Microtubule Formation
Destabilization of Microtubules
Abnormal Proliferation
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway

