Abstract: Bid, a Bcl-2 family protein, is a BH3 domain-only agonist. Specific proximal death signals, such as Fas and TNF-á, are connected with the BH3–only pro-apoptotic members to interact with the multidomain molecules of Bak and Bax, which in turn serve as a pathway towards the amplification loop of the intrinsic mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic pathway. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) expresses a low level of Bid and Bid can be regulated by hepatitis X protein, a carcinogen for HCC. Overexpression of Bid or its truncated form tBid can facilitate apoptotic death of HCC cells and significantly enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy towards HCC in vitro and in vivo. It appears that Bid /tBid plays a role in the development of HCC. Application of Bid/tBid to HCC can significantly promote apoptosis of tumor cells, which is therapeutically significant.

Brief Biography of the Speaker:
George G CHEN is a professor at Faculty of Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong, China, where he is also the director of the surgical laboratories and an investigator at the Cancer Centre of CUHK. His main research interest is in the area of apoptosis in cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma and lung cancer. He authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals and gave numerous talks at conferences related to his research field. He has been an editor or author for several books and book chapters and been invited to serve editorial boards or a guest editor for a number of journals.