The flexible loop of Bcl-2 is required for molecular interaction with immunosuppressant FK-506 binding protein 38 (FKBP38).

Bcl-2 contains an unusually long loop between the first and the second helices. This loop has been shown to be highly flexible based on NMR and X-ray crystallographic analyses of this region. Bcl-2 is regulated at the posttranslational level through phosphorylation of specific residues within the flexible loop. The biological role and posttranslational modifications of the loop of Bcl-2 is currently unclear. FK-506 binding protein 38 (FKBP38) has been reported to interact with Bcl-2, suggesting that FKBP38 could act as a docking molecule to localize Bcl-2 at the mitochondrial membrane [Shirane, M. and Nakayama, K.I. (2003) Inherent calcineurin inhibitor FKBP38 targets Bcl-2 to mitochondria and inhibits apoptosis. Nat. Cell Biol. 5, 28-37]. Here, we investigated the molecular interaction between FKBP38 and Bcl-2, and demonstrated that Bcl-2 interacts with FKBP38 through the unstructured loop, and the interaction appears to regulate phosphorylation in the loop of Bcl-2.