Bax and Bif-1 proteins interact on Bilayer Lipid Membrane and form pore.

Bax and Bax interacting factor-1(Bif-1) are cytosolic proteins, which translocate towards mitochondria during mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Bif-1 has been identified to co-immunoprecipitate with Bax in apoptotic cells. We have studied the interaction of Bax and Bif-1 on Bilayer Lipid Membrane (BLM) through electrophysiological experiments. It has been observed that Bax-Bif-1 equimolar mixture can form a pore. The pore conductance is in the range of 4.96-5.41 nS. It also displays a sub-state with a conductance of 2.6 nS. No pore activity is observed on BLM when monomeric Bax and Bif-1 proteins are tested independently. The above-mentioned pore forming activity could be relevant in mitochondria-mediated apoptosis.