Bax (biochemistry)

Bax is a protein of the Bcl-2 gene family. It promotes apoptosis by competing with Bcl-2 proper.

The Bax gene contains a small (39-nt?) promoter element that complements a binding domain on the multi-faceted p53 tumor suppressor. Wild-type p53 has been demonstrated to upregulate the transcription of a chimeric reporter plasmid utilizing the consensus promoter sequence of Bax approx. 50-fold over mutant p53. Mutations in this consensus sequence eliminated transcription of the reporter gene. Thus it is likely that p53 promotes bax's apoptotic faculties in vivo as a primary transcription factor.