Apoptosis Database

Description [+]

Synonyms: BOK, BCL2L9, BOKL, MGC4631
Species: Metazoa;Bilateria;Deuterostoma;Chordata;Vertebrata;Mammalia;Primates;Hominidae; Homo sapiens
Short gene description: Bcl-2-related ovarian killer protein (Hbok) [Source:UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot;Acc:Q9UMX3]
Family: Bcl-2 family : multidomain Bcl-2
Process: cell death (other),
Pathways:
Criteria: manually curated
Curator comment:
Mouse ortholog(s): Bok
WIKI: BOK-H_sapiens

References [+]

Nuclear translocation of the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bok induces apoptosis.
Bartholomeusz G, Wu Y, Ali Seyed M, Xia W, Kwong KY, Hortobagyi G, Hung MC
The anti-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family, such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL, play a central role in preventing the induction of apoptosis via the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. It has been previously shown that induction of apoptosis by the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bok is not antagonized by either Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL, suggesting that Bok might have a unique role in the apoptotic cascade. We showed here that human Bok is the only member of the Bcl-2 family to have a leucine-rich sequence indicative of a nuclear export signal within its BH3 domain. Western blot analysis of nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions identified Bok in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm of HEK 293T cells, HeLa cells, and breast cancer cells, and its nuclear concentration increased after treatment of those cells with leptomycin B, an inhibitor of the exportin Crm1. Immunocytochemistry of flag-tagged Bok confirmed its nuclear localization. Mutating the nuclear export signal of Bok by site-directed mutagenesis resulted in an increase in its nuclear localization and apoptotic activity. We also found that Crm1 interacted with wild-type Bok but not with the mutated form. These results suggest that nuclear export of Bok is a regulated process mediated by Crm1, and constitutes the first report of a link between the apoptotic activity and nuclear localization of a pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family. Mol Carcinog. 2006 Feb;45(2):73-83.

Mtd, a novel Bcl-2 family member activates apoptosis in the absence of heterodimerization with Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL.
Inohara N, Ekhterae D, Garcia I, Carrio R, Merino J, Merry A, Chen S, Nunez G
We have identified and characterized Mtd, a novel regulator of apoptosis. Sequence analysis revealed that Mtd is a member of the Bcl-2 family of proteins containing conserved BH1, BH2, BH3, and BH4 regions and a carboxyl-terminal hydrophobic domain. In adult tissues, Mtd mRNA was predominantly detected in the brain, liver, and lymphoid tissues, while in the embryo Mtd mRNA was detected in the liver, thymus, lung, and intestinal epithelium. Expression of Mtd promoted the death of primary sensory neurons, 293T cells and HeLa cells, indicating that Mtd is a proapoptotic protein. Unlike all other known death agonists of the Bcl-2 family, Mtd did not bind significantly to the survival-promoting proteins Bcl-2 or Bcl-XL. Furthermore, apoptosis induced by Mtd was not inhibited by Bcl-2 or Bcl-XL. A Mtd mutant with glutamine substitutions of highly conserved amino acids in the BH3 domain retained its ability to promote apoptosis, further indicating that Mtd does not promote apoptosis by heterodimerizing with Bcl-2 or Bcl-XL. Mtd-induced apoptosis was not blocked by broad range synthetic caspase inhibitors z-VAD-fmk or a viral protein CrmA. Mtd is the first example of a naturally occurring Bcl-2 family member that can activate apoptosis independently of heterodimerization with survival-promoting Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL. J Biol Chem. 1998 Apr 10;273(15):8705-10.

References from Mouse ortholog(s):

Mtd, a novel Bcl-2 family member activates apoptosis in the absence of heterodimerization with Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL.
Inohara N, Ekhterae D, Garcia I, Carrio R, Merino J, Merry A, Chen S, Nunez G
We have identified and characterized Mtd, a novel regulator of apoptosis. Sequence analysis revealed that Mtd is a member of the Bcl-2 family of proteins containing conserved BH1, BH2, BH3, and BH4 regions and a carboxyl-terminal hydrophobic domain. In adult tissues, Mtd mRNA was predominantly detected in the brain, liver, and lymphoid tissues, while in the embryo Mtd mRNA was detected in the liver, thymus, lung, and intestinal epithelium. Expression of Mtd promoted the death of primary sensory neurons, 293T cells and HeLa cells, indicating that Mtd is a proapoptotic protein. Unlike all other known death agonists of the Bcl-2 family, Mtd did not bind significantly to the survival-promoting proteins Bcl-2 or Bcl-XL. Furthermore, apoptosis induced by Mtd was not inhibited by Bcl-2 or Bcl-XL. A Mtd mutant with glutamine substitutions of highly conserved amino acids in the BH3 domain retained its ability to promote apoptosis, further indicating that Mtd does not promote apoptosis by heterodimerizing with Bcl-2 or Bcl-XL. Mtd-induced apoptosis was not blocked by broad range synthetic caspase inhibitors z-VAD-fmk or a viral protein CrmA. Mtd is the first example of a naturally occurring Bcl-2 family member that can activate apoptosis independently of heterodimerization with survival-promoting Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL. J Biol Chem. 1998 Apr 10;273(15):8705-10.

Structure & Sequence [+]

Source	Domain Name	Start	End
PFAM A	Bcl-2	70	171

Evolution [+]

View protein alignment and tree with Jalview:

Explore tree at phylomeDB: Click here.

Homologs list [+]

Name	Relationship	Species
A_aegypti_AAEL001521-PA	orthology	Aedes
A_aegypti_AAEL001515-PA	orthology	Aedes
Q2PHG8_ANOGA	orthology	Anopheles
BOK_CHICK	orthology	Chicken
C_intestinalis_ENSCINP00000016140	orthology	Ciona
NP_001092338.1	orthology	Cow
debcl	orthology	Fly
Buffy	orthology	Fly
BOK (1 of 2)	orthology	Fugu
BOK (1 of 2)	orthology	Gasterosteus
BOK	orthology	Gorilla
BOK	orthology	Horse
BOK	orthology	Lyzard
BOK	orthology	Macaca
BOK (1 of 2)	orthology	Medaka
BOK	orthology	Monodelphis
Bok	orthology	Mouse
BOK	orthology	Orangutan
BOK	orthology	Ornithorhynchus
Bok	orthology	Rat
BOK (1 of 2)	orthology	Tetraodon
BOK	orthology	Zebra finch
boka	orthology	Zebrafish
BCL2_CHICK	paralogy	Chicken
NP_001026091.1	paralogy	Chicken
BCLX_CHICK	paralogy	Chicken
BAX	paralogy	Chimpanzee
BCL2L2	paralogy	Chimpanzee
BCL2L1	paralogy	Chimpanzee
C_intestinalis_ENSCINP00000019812	paralogy	Ciona
NP_001070954.1	paralogy	Cow
NP_001071386.1	paralogy	Cow
BCLW_BOVIN	paralogy	Cow
BAX_BOVIN	paralogy	Cow
NP_001003072.1	paralogy	Dog
BCL2	paralogy	Dog
BOK (2 of 2)	paralogy	Fugu
BAX	paralogy	Fugu
BCL2L1 (1 of 6)	paralogy	Fugu
BCL2	paralogy	Fugu
BCL2L1 (2 of 6)	paralogy	Fugu
BAX	paralogy	Gasterosteus
BOK (2 of 2)	paralogy	Gasterosteus
G_aculeatus_ENSGACP00000018978	paralogy	Gasterosteus
BCL2	paralogy	Gasterosteus
BCL2L1 (1 of 2)	paralogy	Gasterosteus
BCL2L1 (2 of 2)	paralogy	Gasterosteus
BAX	paralogy	Gorilla
BCL2L2	paralogy	Gorilla
BCL2	paralogy	Horse
BAK1	paralogy	Horse
BCL2L2	paralogy	Horse
BCL2L1	paralogy	Horse
BAX	paralogy	Human
BCL2L2	paralogy	Human
BCL2L1	paralogy	Human
BCL2	paralogy	Lyzard
BCL2L1	paralogy	Lyzard
BAK1	paralogy	Lyzard
BAX	paralogy	Lyzard
BCL2L1	paralogy	Macaca
BCL2L2	paralogy	Macaca
BAX	paralogy	Macaca
BCL2L1	paralogy	Medaka
BAX	paralogy	Medaka
BCL2	paralogy	Medaka
BOK (2 of 2)	paralogy	Medaka
BAX	paralogy	Monodelphis
BCL2L1	paralogy	Monodelphis
M_domestica_ENSMODP00000005598	paralogy	Monodelphis
MCL1	paralogy	Monodelphis
Bak1	paralogy	Mouse
Bcl2	paralogy	Mouse
Bcl2l1	paralogy	Mouse
Bcl2l2	paralogy	Mouse
Bax	paralogy	Mouse
BCL2L1	paralogy	Orangutan
BCL2L2	paralogy	Ornithorhynchus
Q9MYW4_RABIT	paralogy	Rabbit
BAK1	paralogy	Rabbit
BAX	paralogy	Rabbit
Bax	paralogy	Rat
RGD1565822_predicted	paralogy	Rat
BCLX_RAT	paralogy	Rat
Bak1	paralogy	Rat
Bcl2	paralogy	Rat
T_nigroviridis_ENSTNIP00000017211	paralogy	Tetraodon
BCL2L1 (1 of 3)	paralogy	Tetraodon
BCL2	paralogy	Tetraodon
BCL2L1 (3 of 3)	paralogy	Tetraodon
BOK (2 of 2)	paralogy	Tetraodon
BCL2L1 (2 of 3)	paralogy	Tetraodon
BCL2L1	paralogy	Xenopus
BCL2	paralogy	Xenopus
bcl2l2	paralogy	Xenopus
bax	paralogy	Xenopus
BAK1	paralogy	Xenopus
BAX	paralogy	Zebra finch
BCL2	paralogy	Zebra finch
BCL2L1	paralogy	Zebra finch
baxa	paralogy	Zebrafish
zgc:153993	paralogy	Zebrafish
bcl2	paralogy	Zebrafish
bcl2l	paralogy	Zebrafish
bokb	paralogy	Zebrafish

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Gene Ontology [+]

GO id	Name	Ontology type	Evidence
GO:0006917	induction of apoptosis	biological_proccess	IEA
GO:0042981	regulation of apoptosis	biological_proccess	IEA
GO:0046983	protein dimerization activity	mollecular_function	ISS
GO:0046983	protein dimerization activity	mollecular_function	IEA
GO:0005575	cellular_component	cell_component	ND

Curated Isoforms [+]

Transcript	Translation
OTTHUMT00000257268 *	OTTHUMP00000164606 *

Information from other databases [+]

Gene related links:

Gene info from HGNC [?] :1087
Gene related info from GeneCards [?] : BOK
Ensembl genome browser [?] : ENSG00000176720
Expression info from Arrayexpress [?] : ENSG00000176720
Protein expression from Protein Atlas: [?] ENSG00000176720
Community gene edition from Wikigenes: [?] 666

Protein related links:

Uniprot protein info: Q9UMX3
PIR protein info: Q9UMX3
Protein interactions from IntAct: Q9UMX3

Gene and disease information from OMIM: (For a full disease description table, click here.)

OMIM gene information: 605404
OMIM disease information:

Other links

entrezgene: 666
refseq_dna: NM_032515
refseq_peptide: NP_115904

Click on [?] for more information.

BOK (Homo sapiens)