The Bcl-2 family and cell death regulation

Members of the Bcl-2 protein family fall into two categories on the basis of their ability to either promote or suppress apoptosis. Recent findings have linked these proteins to caspases, the cysteine proteases that effect the collapse of the cell via binding to CED-4. It seems that Bcl-2 proteins influence cell survival by regulating the activation of key caspases.