Polyclonal antibody to Mcl-1

This antibody recognizes Mcl-1, isoforms 1 and 2. Human Mcl-1 isoform 1 is a 350 amino acid protein. Bcl2 family members can be divided into 3 main subfamilies on the basis of their function and the content of their Bcl2 homology (BH) domains, for example: 1) Prosurvival: Bcl-2, BclXL, BclW, A1, and Mcl-1and 2) Proapoptotic (multidomain): Bax, Bak, and Bok. 3) BH3-only (proapoptotic): Bad, Bcl-XS, Bid, Bik, Bim, Blk, Bmf, Bnip, Noxa, and Puma. The BH domains are important for function as well as for heterodimerization between family members. Typical prosurvival members have all four BH domains (1-4), whereas proapoptotic (multidomain) members have BH1, 2 and 3 domains and BH3-only members have only the BH3 domain. Overall, the relative ratio of prosurvival and proapoptotic proteins determines the suseptibility of a cell to various apoptotic stimuli. Prosurvival proteins are often elevated in diverse cancers and have the potential to confer resistance to both endogenous cell death stimuli and cancer treatments. Alterations in the ratio or levels of Bcl2 proteins have been also associated with nonmalignant diseases including neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases, AIDs, Down's syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, glomerulonephritis, and muscular dystrophy.