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. 2018 Feb 2;19(2):448. doi: 10.3390/ijms19020448

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© 2018 by the authors.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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The pathway of intrinsic apoptosis. BH3-only proteins are upregulated in response to apoptotic stress. They activate BAX (BCL-2-associated X protein) and BAK (BCL-2 homologous antagonist killer) which oligomerize and results in mitochondrial membrane permeabilization. Cytochrome c, SMAC (second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase), and Omi are released and the apoptosome is formed from procaspase-9, dATP, cytochrome c, and APAF-1. Caspases are then activated and begin to cleave cellular proteins resulting in apoptosis. Arrows represent activation and T bars represent inhibition.