The oncogene BCL2 is a membrane protein that blocks a step in a pathway leading to apoptosis or programmed cell death. The protein encoded by this gene binds to BCL2 and is referred to as BCL2-associated athanogene. It enhances the anti-apoptotic effects of BCL2 and represents a link between growth factor receptors and anti-apoptotic mechanisms. Multiple protein isoforms are encoded by this mRNA through the use of a non-AUG (CUG) initiation codon, and three alternative downstream AUG initiation codons. A related pseudogene has been defined on chromosome X. [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2010]
Forensic Context
A study in human postmortem prostate tissues demonstrated that the BAG1 is an anti-apoptotic gene whose expression is significantly upregulated in a time-dependent manner for time of death estimation [Tolbert et al. DOI:10.1016/j.gene.2018.06.090]. The research, using PCR Array analysis on samples with postmortem intervals up to 120 hours, validated that the BAG1 showed a fold regulation of 16.0867 at 96 hours and 21.3257 at 120 hours, indicating its measurable and significant elevation as the postmortem interval increases.