Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 12, 2026

BCL2L2

Bcl-2-like protein 2 is a 193-amino acid protein that in humans is encoded by the BCL2L2 gene on chromosome 14. It was originally discovered by Leonie Gibson, Suzanne Cory and colleagues at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, who called it Bcl-w.

Last revised
Jun 12, 2026
Read time
≈ 6 min
Length
1,476 w
Citations
30
Source
BCL2L2
Available structures
PDBOrtholog search: PDBe RCSB
Identifiers
AliasesBCL2L2, BCL-W, BCL2-L-2, BCLW, PPP1R51, BCL2 like 2
External IDsOMIM: 601931; MGI: 108052; HomoloGene: 2989; GeneCards: BCL2L2; OMA:BCL2L2 - orthologs
Orthologs
SpeciesHumanMouse
Entrez
Ensembl
UniProt
RefSeq (mRNA)

NM_004050
NM_001199839

NM_007537

RefSeq (protein)

NP_001186768
NP_004041

NP_031563

Location (UCSC)Chr 14: 23.3 – 23.31 MbChr 14: 55.12 – 55.13 Mb
PubMed search34
Wikidata
View/Edit HumanView/Edit Mouse

Bcl-2-like protein 2 is a 193-amino acid protein that in humans is encoded by the BCL2L2 gene on chromosome 14 (band q11.2-q12).567 It was originally discovered by Leonie Gibson, Suzanne Cory and colleagues at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, who called it Bcl-w.8

Function

This gene encodes a pro-survival (anti-apoptotic) member of the Bcl-2 protein family, and is most similar to Bcl-xL.7 The proteins of this family form hetero- or homodimers and act as anti- and pro-apoptotic regulators. Expression of this gene in cells has been shown to contribute to reduced cell apoptosis under cytotoxic conditions. Studies of the related gene in mice indicated a role in the survival of NGF- and BDNF-dependent neurons. Mutation and knockout studies of the mouse gene demonstrated an essential role in adult spermatogenesis.697

Clinical significance

High levels of Bcl-w are seen in many cancers, including glioblastoma, colorectal cancer, non-small-cell lung carcinoma, and breast cancer.7 Breast cancer patients with metastasis have higher Bcl-w than breast cancer patients only having primary tumor.7 Elevated levels of Bcl-w has been shown to protect neurons from cell death induced by amyloid beta.7 Parkinson's disease patients with a mutant PARK2 gene have elevated Bcl-w.7 Bcl-w has been shown to contribute to cellular senescence.7

Quercetin has been shown to inhibit the PI3K/AKT pathway leading to downregulation of Bcl-w.107

Interactions

BCL2L2 has been shown to interact with:

References

References

  1. GRCh38: Ensembl release 89: ENSG00000129473Ensembl, May 2017
  2. GRCm38: Ensembl release 89: ENSMUSG00000089682Ensembl, May 2017
  3. "Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  4. "Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  5. Gibson L, Holmgreen SP, Huang DC, Bernard O, Copeland NG, Jenkins NA, Sutherland GR, Baker E, Adams JM, Cory S (October 1996). "bcl-w, a novel member of the bcl-2 family, promotes cell survival". Oncogene. 13 (4): 665–75. PMID 8761287.
  6. "Entrez Gene: BCL2L2 BCL2-like 2".
  7. Hartman ML, Czyz M (2020). "BCL-w: apoptotic and non-apoptotic role in health and disease". Cell Death & Disease. 11 (4): 2260. doi:10.1038/s41419-020-2417-0. PMC 7174325. PMID 32317622.
  8. Gibson L, Holmgreen SP, Huang DC, et al. (1996). "bcl-w, a novel member of the bcl-2 family, promotes cell survival". Oncogene. 13 (4): 665–75. PMID 8761287.
  9. Kelly GL, Strasser A (2020). "Toward Targeting Antiapoptotic MCL-1 for Cancer Therapy". Annual Review of Cancer Biology. 4: 299–313. doi:10.1146/annurev-cancerbio-030419-033510. hdl:11343/252362.
  10. Paez-Ribes M, González-Gualda E, Doherty GJ, Muñoz-Espín D (2019). "Targeting senescent cells in translational medicine". EMBO Molecular Medicine. 11 (12) e10234. doi:10.15252/emmm.201810234. PMC 6895604. PMID 31746100.
  11. Hsu SY, Lin P, Hsueh AJ (September 1998). "BOD (Bcl-2-related ovarian death gene) is an ovarian BH3 domain-containing proapoptotic Bcl-2 protein capable of dimerization with diverse antiapoptotic Bcl-2 members". Mol. Endocrinol. 12 (9): 1432–40. doi:10.1210/mend.12.9.0166. PMID 9731710.
  12. O'Connor L, Strasser A, O'Reilly LA, Hausmann G, Adams JM, Cory S, Huang DC (January 1998). "Bim: a novel member of the Bcl-2 family that promotes apoptosis". EMBO J. 17 (2): 384–95. doi:10.1093/emboj/17.2.384. PMC 1170389. PMID 9430630.
  13. Ayllón V, Cayla X, García A, Fleischer A, Rebollo A (July 2002). "The anti-apoptotic molecules Bcl-xL and Bcl-w target protein phosphatase 1alpha to Bad". Eur. J. Immunol. 32 (7): 1847–55. doi:10.1002/1521-4141(200207)32:7<1847::AID-IMMU1847>3.0.CO;2-7. PMID 12115603.
  14. Chen L, Willis SN, Wei A, Smith BJ, Fletcher JI, Hinds MG, Colman PM, Day CL, Adams JM, Huang DC (February 2005). "Differential targeting of prosurvival Bcl-2 proteins by their BH3-only ligands allows complementary apoptotic function". Mol. Cell. 17 (3): 393–403. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2004.12.030. PMID 15694340.
  15. Bae J, Hsu SY, Leo CP, Zell K, Hsueh AJ (October 2001). "Underphosphorylated BAD interacts with diverse antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins to regulate apoptosis". Apoptosis. 6 (5): 319–30. doi:10.1023/A:1011319901057. PMID 11483855. S2CID 23119757.
  16. Holmgreen SP, Huang DC, Adams JM, Cory S (June 1999). "Survival activity of Bcl-2 homologs Bcl-w and A1 only partially correlates with their ability to bind pro-apoptotic family members". Cell Death Differ. 6 (6): 525–32. doi:10.1038/sj.cdd.4400519. PMID 10381646.
Further reading

Further reading

External links