| First Author | Chau BN | Year | 2000 |
| Journal | Mol Cell | Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 31-40 |
| PubMed ID | 10949025 | Mgi Jnum | J:113907 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3687819 | Citation | Chau BN, et al. (2000) Aven, a novel inhibitor of caspase activation, binds Bcl-xL and Apaf-1. Mol Cell 6(1):31-40 |
| abstractText | Bcl-x(L), an antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family member, is postulated to function at multiple stages in the cell death pathway. The possibility that Bcl-x(L) inhibits cell death at a late (postmitochondrial) step in the death pathway is supported by this report of a novel apoptosis inhibitor, Aven, which binds to both Bcl-x(L) and the caspase regulator, Apaf-1. Identified in a yeast two-hybrid screen, Aven is broadly expressed and is conserved in other mammalian species. Only those mutants of Bcl-x(L)that retain their antiapoptotic activity are capable of binding Aven. Aven interferes with the ability of Apaf-1 to self-associate, suggesting that Aven impairs Apaf-1-mediated activation of caspases. Consistent with this idea, Aven inhibited the proteolytic activation of caspases in a cell-free extract and suppressed apoptosis induced by Apaf-1 plus caspase-9. Thus, Aven represents a new class of cell death regulator. |
