BCL-2 double take

Researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have independently identified peptides that modulate mitochondrial apoptosis and may have promise in cancer. The therapeutic strategies are, however, quite different: in the first case, the peptides target antiapoptotic B cell CLL/lymphoma 2 family members; in the latter case, the peptides activate proapoptotic B cell CLL/lymphoma 2 proteins.

The Burnham team showed that a short peptide-NuBCP-9-acts as a molecular switch that converts the normally antiapoptotic B cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (BCL2; BCL-2) into a proapoptotic protein.¹ Although several companies are developing therapeutics aimed at eliminating BCL-2 and its tumor-protective functions, the newly discovered peptide could be more effective because the proapoptotic conformation actually initiates the elimination of the cancer cells...