Members of Bcl-2 family are critical regulators of apoptosis by either inhibiting or promoting cell death. Bcl-2 homology 3 (BH3) domain is a potent death domain. BH3 domain containing pro-apoptotic proteins, including Bad, Bax, Bid, Bik, Hrk, Nip3, and Bim, form a growing subclass of the Bcl-2 family. A novel BH3 domain containing protein was recently identified and designated Bnip3L, Bnip3
