Choi S S, Park I C, Yun J W, Sung Y C, Hong S I, Shin H S
Department of Life Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea.
Oncogene. 1995 Nov 2;11(9):1693-8.
Programmed cell death (apoptosis) is an active process which is genetically encoded and plays an important role in several cellular activities such as embryonic development, deletion of autoreactive T-cells and homeostasis. Several genes regulating apoptosis have been reported, including p53, one of the tumor suppressor genes, c-myc, one of the proto-oncogenes, and various kinds of Bcl-2 related genes. A new cDNA clone which is homologous to Bcl-2, named as Bfl-1 were isolated from a human fetal liver at 22 week of gestation. This clone was identified by computer analysis of random cDNA sequences that were obtained in an effort to expand the expressed sequence tag (EST) databases to be used for human genome analysis. The homology was recognized by 72% amino acid identity to the murine A1 gene, a member of the Bcl-2-related genes. The homology to the BH1 and BH2 domains of Bcl-2 was especially significant, suggesting that Bfl-1 is a new member of the Bcl-2-related genes. Bfl-1 is abundantly expressed in the bone marrow and at a low level in some other tissues. Interestingly, a correlation was noted between the expression level of Bfl-1 gene and the development of stomach cancer in eight sets of clinical samples. It is conceivable that Bfl-1 is involved in the promotion of the cell survival in the stomach cancer development or progression.
程序性细胞死亡（凋亡）是一个由基因编码的主动过程，在胚胎发育、自身反应性T细胞的清除及内环境稳定等多种细胞活动中发挥重要作用。已有多种调控凋亡的基因被报道，包括肿瘤抑制基因之一的p53、原癌基因之一的c-myc以及各类Bcl-2相关基因。从妊娠22周的人胎儿肝脏中分离出一个与Bcl-2同源的新cDNA克隆，命名为Bfl-1。该克隆是通过对随机cDNA序列进行计算机分析鉴定出来的，这些序列是为了扩展用于人类基因组分析的表达序列标签（EST）数据库而获得的。通过与Bcl-2相关基因家族成员小鼠A1基因72%的氨基酸同一性识别出同源性。与Bcl-2的BH1和BH2结构域的同源性尤为显著，表明Bfl-1是Bcl-2相关基因的一个新成员。Bfl-1在骨髓中大量表达，在其他一些组织中表达水平较低。有趣的是，在八组临床样本中发现Bfl-1基因的表达水平与胃癌发生之间存在相关性。可以推测，Bfl-1在胃癌发生或进展过程中参与促进细胞存活。
