BCL-xL, a Mitochondrial Protein Involved in Successful Aging: From C. elegans to Human Centenarians

Autores de INCLIVA

• 

  Consuelo Borras Blasco

  Autor

• 

  Cristina Mas Bargues

  Autor

• Jorge Sanz Ros

  Autor

• Lucia Gimeno Mallench

  Autor

• 

  Marta Inglés De La Torre

  Autor

• 

  Juan Gambini Buchon

  Autor

• 

  Jose Viña Ribes

  Autor

Participantes ajenos a INCLIVA

• Roman-Dominguez, A

Grupos y Plataformas de I+D+i

• Grupo de Investigación en Envejecimiento Saludable

  

  Leading Researcher

  Consuelo Borras Blasco

• Grupo de investigación en envejecimiento y ejercicio físico

  

  Leading Researcher

  Jose Viña Ribes

Abstract

B-Cell Lymphoma-extra-large (BCL-xL) is involved in longevity and successful aging, which indicates a role for BCL-xL in cell survival pathway regulation. Beyond its well described role as an inhibitor of apoptosis by preventing cytochrome c release, BCL-xL has also been related, indirectly, to autophagy and senescence pathways. Although in these latter cases, BCL-xL has dual roles, either activating or inhibiting, depending on the cell type and the specific conditions. Taken together, all these findings suggest a precise mechanism of action for BCL-xL, able to regulate the crosstalk between apoptosis, autophagy, and senescence, thus promoting cell survival or cell death. All three pathways can be both beneficial or detrimental depending on the circumstances. Thus, targeting BCL-xL would in turn be a "double-edge sword" and therefore, additional studies are needed to better comprehend this dual and apparently contradictory role of BCL-XL in longevity.

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Keywords

• healthy aging; apoptosis; autophagy; senescence; longevity; mitochondria