My laboratory has two research projects as explained below:

(1) How does the stressed cell decide its fate to live or die?

Several types of stresses, including DNA damage, protein misfolding, reactive oxygen species generation, viral infection and tropic factor deprivation are known to activate apoptosis pathways controlled by evolutionarily conserved Bcl-2 family proteins (Reviewed in 1-3). There are two types of Bcl-2 family proteins: anti-apoptotic and pro-apoptotic proteins. Bcl-2, Bcl-X, and Mcl-1 are anti-apoptotic proteins that inhibit cell death through several types of stress. Bax, Bak, Bid, and Bim are the well-known members in pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins, and these proteins trigger apoptotic signal cascades that lead the stressed cell to undergo apoptosis.