# BAX

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/bax/  
OnCo record `bax` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

BAX is the protein that opens the mitochondria to start cell death. BCL-2 keeps it in check in leukaemia cells; venetoclax and sonrotoclax free it, so the mitochondria leak cytochrome c and the cell dies.

## Summary

BAX (chromosome 19q13.33) acts in the mitochondrial apoptotic process: under normal conditions it is kept largely cytosolic by constant retrotranslocation from the mitochondria mediated by BCL-XL, which prevents toxic BAX accumulating at the outer membrane; under stress it changes conformation, translocates to the mitochondrial membrane, releases cytochrome c and promotes caspase-3 activation and apoptosis (UniProt Q07812). The intrinsic apoptosis pathway record describes BAX and BAK as the proteins that pull the self-destruct switch open while BCL-2 holds it shut. In OnCo, BAX and BIM are the pro-apoptotic proteins released when venetoclax or sonrotoclax occupy the BH3 groove of BCL-2, which permeabilises the mitochondrial outer membrane and kills CLL and AML cells.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Also known as: BCL2L4; BCL2 associated X, apoptosis regulator
- Tags: wave5-target
- Symbol: BAX
- Class: other
- Biology: BAX activity is restored in the clinic by removing its BCL-2 family restraints rather than by a direct activator; the corpus records no drug that binds BAX.
- Where found: Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and AML (venetoclax); Mantle-cell lymphoma and DLBCL (sonrotoclax)

## Notes

- Prevalence not recorded in this wave: HGNC and UniProt carry no positivity rates and no other source was consulted.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:959: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:959
- UniProt Q07812: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q07812/entry
- NCBI Gene 581: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/581

## Connected records

- drugs: [Sonrotoclax](https://onco.cc/drugs/sonrotoclax/), [Venetoclax](https://onco.cc/drugs/venetoclax/)
- targets: [BCL-2](https://onco.cc/targets/bcl2/), [BIM (BCL2L11)](https://onco.cc/targets/bim/)
- cancers: [Acute myeloid leukaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/aml/), [Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/cll/), [Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/dlbcl/)
- technologies: [BCL-2 inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/bcl2-inhibitors/)
- pathways: [Intrinsic apoptosis (BCL-2 family)](https://onco.cc/pathways/apoptosis-bcl2/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/bax.json