BD Transduction Laboratories™ Purified Mouse Anti-AIP1

Apoptosis is a selective process of genetically programmed cell death which occurs during normal cell differentiation and development of multicellular organisms. In vertebrates, T cell and neuronal development are probably the best characterized systems for the study of apoptosis. ALG-2 and ALG-3 (apoptosis-linked genes 2 and 3) were identified as low molecular weight Ca2+-binding proteins essential for apoptosis through the activation of the Fas receptor in T cells. ALG-2 Interacting Protein 1 (AIP1/Alix) is a ubiquitous protein that associates with ALG-2 in the cytosol in a Ca2+ dependent manner. AIP1 is homologous to the yeast protein, BRO1, which has been implicated in Pkc1p- AP kinase signaling. A truncated form of AIP1 protects against serum starvation-, etoposide-, and staurosporine-induced cell death. In addition, the C-terminal proline rich region of AIP1 facilitates interaction with SH3 domain-containing protein expressed in tumorigenic astrocytes (SETA) and this interaction may be important for mediating DNA damage-dependent apoptosis in astrocytes. Thus, AIP1 interacts with ALG-2 or SETA, or both, during activation of cell death pathways in a variety of cell types.