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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Examining BCL-2 Family Function with Large Unilamellar Vesicles
Published on: October 5, 2012
Why doesn't Beclin 1, a BH3-only protein, suppress the anti-apoptotic function of Bcl-2?
Iwona A Ciechomska1, Christoph G Goemans, Aviva M Tolkovsky
1Laboratory of Transcription Regulation, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland.
Abstract:
Beclin 1 binds to Bcl-2 through its BH3 domain and this interaction inhibits starvation-induced autophagy. However, we have found that when Beclin 1 binds thus to Bcl-2, it fails to inhibit Bcl-2-mediated protection against four different inducers of apoptosis. In this punctum, we discuss possible reasons why Beclin 1 fails to behave like other BH3-only proteins and induce apoptosis.
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