Protein-protein interactions of the p53 family with the Bcl-2 family in hepatocellular carcinoma

Bcl-2 family proteins serve as critical regulators in apoptosis, either promoting or inhibiting cell death via the mitochondrial apoptosis signaling pathway. Wildtype p53 promotes apoptosis via transcription-dependent and transcription-independent mechanisms. The latter may be mediated by direct translocation of p53 to the mitochondria where it leads to outer mitochondrial membrane permeabilization (OMMP) by forming an inhibitory complex with the anti-apoptotic Bclxl protein. We investigated direct protein-protein interactions (PPI) of the members of the p53 family (p53, p63 and p73) with different members of th…