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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Apr 27.
Published in final edited form as: Oncogene. 2008 Dec;27(Suppl 1):S71–S83. doi: 10.1038/onc.2009.45

Figure 2.

Figure 2

A model for PUMA-mediated apoptosis. PUMA activates Bax/Bak indirectly by relieving the inhibition of all five antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins to promote mitochondria dysfunction and release of the mitochondrial apoptogenic proteins cytochrome c (Cyto c), SMAC and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), which lead to caspase activation and cell death. Under some conditions, PUMA might directly activate Bax/Bak, or cytoplasmic p53 (by displacing it from Bcl-XL) to promote cell death through the mitochondria.