Figure 1.
Regulation and mutual interaction of Bcl-2 family proteins. A) Conformational changes during Bax activation. To transform from the soluble to the pore forming conformation, Bax needs to undergo at least five transitions (transition 1 to 5), so that at least six conformational states (a-f) exist. B) Schematic drawing of the twelve spatially-resolved protein/protein complexes identified upon co-incubation of cBid, Bax and Bcl-xL1. C) Diagram on how cBid and Bcl-xL, as well as Bax itself, regulate the five conformational transitions of Bax introduced in A). D) Schematic drawing of preferential complexes formed by full length and C-terminus-truncated Bcl-xL.