Peptides corresponding to helices 5 and 6 of Bax can independently form large lipid pores

Proteins of the B-cell lymphoma protein 2 (Bcl2) family are key regulators of the apoptotic cascade, controlling the release of apoptotic factors from the mitochondrial intermembrane space. A helical hairpin found in the core of water-soluble folds of these proteins has been reported to be the pore- forming domain. Here we show that peptides including any of the two a-helix fragments of the hairpin of Bcl2 associated protein X (Bax) can independently induce release of large labelled dextrans from synthetic lipid vesicles. The permeability promoted by these peptides is influenced by intrinsic monolayer curvature and accompanied by fast transbilayer redis- tribution of lipids, supporting a to…