BCL2L12 explained

Bcl-2-like protein 12 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the BCL2L12 gene.^{[1] [2]}

The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the Bcl-2 protein family. Bcl-2 family members form hetero- or homodimers and act as anti- or pro-apoptotic regulators that are involved in a wide variety of cellular activities. This protein contains a Bcl-2 homology domain 2 (BH2). The function of this gene has not yet been determined. Two alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene encoding distinct isoforms have been reported.^[1]

Bcl2L12 expression is upregulated in most human glioblastomas. Expression of Bcl2L12 results in resistance to apoptosis. Bcl2L12 directly neutralizes caspase-7 (CASP7) and indirectly neutralizes caspase-3 (CASP3) by an indirect mechanism.^[3] Both caspase enzymes are known to play essential roles in the execution phase of apoptosis.^[4]

Further reading

• Hammond PW, Alpin J, Rise CE . In vitro selection and characterization of Bcl-X(L)-binding proteins from a mix of tissue-specific mRNA display libraries . J. Biol. Chem. . 276 . 24 . 20898–906 . 2001 . 11283018 . 10.1074/jbc.M011641200 . etal. free .
• Scorilas A, Kyriakopoulou L, Yousef GM . Molecular cloning, physical mapping, and expression analysis of a novel gene, BCL2L12, encoding a proline-rich protein with a highly conserved BH2 domain of the Bcl-2 family . Genomics . 72 . 2 . 217–21 . 2001 . 11401436 . 10.1006/geno.2000.6455 . etal.
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . etal. free .
• Talieri M, Diamandis EP, Katsaros N . Expression of BCL2L12, a new member of apoptosis-related genes, in breast tumors . Thromb. Haemost. . 89 . 6 . 1081–8 . 2004 . 12783122 . 10.1055/s-0037-1613411. 44619207 . etal.
• Hillman RT, Green RE, Brenner SE . An unappreciated role for RNA surveillance . Genome Biol. . 5 . 2 . R8 . 2005 . 14759258 . 10.1186/gb-2004-5-2-r8 . 395752 . free .
• Gerhard DS, Wagner L, Feingold EA . The Status, Quality, and Expansion of the NIH Full-Length cDNA Project: The Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) . Genome Res. . 14 . 10B . 2121–7 . 2004 . 15489334 . 10.1101/gr.2596504 . 528928 . etal.
• Mathioudaki K, Scorilas A, Papadokostopoulou A . Expression analysis of BCL2L12, a new member of apoptosis-related genes, in colon cancer . Biol. Chem. . 385 . 9 . 779–83 . 2005 . 15493871 . 10.1515/BC.2004.101 . 33174333 . etal.
• Rual JF, Venkatesan K, Hao T . Towards a proteome-scale map of the human protein-protein interaction network . Nature . 437 . 7062 . 1173–8 . 2005 . 16189514 . 10.1038/nature04209 . 2005Natur.437.1173R . 4427026 . etal.
• Olsen JV, Blagoev B, Gnad F . Global, in vivo, and site-specific phosphorylation dynamics in signaling networks . Cell . 127 . 3 . 635–48 . 2006 . 17081983 . 10.1016/j.cell.2006.09.026 . 7827573 . etal. free .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Entrez Gene: Bcl2L12 Bcl2-like 12 (proline rich).
2. Scorilas A, Kyriakopoulou L, Yousef GM, Ashworth LK, Kwamie A, Diamandis EP . Molecular cloning, physical mapping, and expression analysis of a novel gene, BCL2L12, encoding a proline-rich protein with a highly conserved BH2 domain of the Bcl-2 family . Genomics . 72 . 2 . 217–21 . March 2001 . 11401436 . 10.1006/geno.2000.6455 .
3. Stegh AH, Kim H, Bachoo RM, Forloney KL, Zhang J, Schulze H, Park K, Hannon GJ, Yuan J, Louis DN, DePinho RA, Chin L . Bcl2L12 inhibits post-mitochondrial apoptosis signaling in glioblastoma . Genes Dev. . 21 . 1 . 98–111 . January 2007 . 17210792 . 1759904 . 10.1101/gad.1480007 .
4. Wilson MR . Apoptosis: unmasking the executioner . Cell Death Differ. . 5 . 8 . 646–52 . August 1998 . 10200519 . 10.1038/sj.cdd.4400394 . free .