Association of Bcl‐2 with Cyclin A/Cdk‐2 Complex and Its Effects on Cdk‐2 Activity

In the human endometrial carcinoma cell line HEC1B, the overexpression of Bcl-2 leads to a G2/M cell cycle arrest. The experiments presented in this work suggest a direct interaction between the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdk-2 and suggest that such interaction is cell cycle dependent. While further experiments are currently under way in our laboratory to elucidate the significance of Cdk-2/Bcl-2 complexes in PCD and cell cycle regulation, we demonstrate also a specific inhibitory function of Bcl-2 on the activity of the coprecipitated kinase.