Biologia celular e do desenvolvimento
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Apoptosis in Bcl2l13 epididymal cells

Donato D’Alonzo MD, Hong Zhang PhD

Apoptosis, i.e., controlled cell death, occurs in response to many different environmental stimuli and it plays an indispensable role in the development and maintenance of homeostasis within all multicellular organisms. The apoptotic cascade that occurs within the cell in response to these cues, leads to morphological and biochemical changes that trigger the death of the cell. Bcl2 (B-cell lymphoma 2), encoded in humans by the BCL2 gene, is the founding member of the Bcl-2 family of regulator proteins that regulate cell death (apoptosis), by either inducing (proapoptotic) or inhibiting (anti-apoptotic) apoptosis and thus represents a crucial part in the cascade of cell death. We analyzed the effect of BCL2l13 in murine knockout (k.o.) following apoptosis. These mice show a phenotype in the epididymis; A gland that is prerequisite to guarantee fertility. By inducing apoptosis and thereafter observing the cell death, the results did not indicate a significant difference between k.o. and wild type suggesting BCL2l13 having less of importance in the BCL2 protein family.