Patent ID: 7888038

Claim:
A method of increasing or decreasing apoptosis-induced cell death comprising increasing or decreasing the level of Bak Binding Protein (BBP) in a eukaryotic cell, the method comprising transfecting the cell ex vivo with a recombinant nucleic acid molecule comprising an isolated polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of: a) a polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:7; b) a polynucleotide consisting of a nucleotide sequence encoding a fragment of SEQ ID NO:7, wherein the fragment consists of at least six linear amino acid residues of SEQ ID NO:7, and wherein the fragment binds to a Bak protein; and c) a polynucleotide consisting of the full complement of the nucleotide sequence of (a) or (b), wherein expression of the polynucleotide in the cell increases or decreases the level of BBP in the cell and thereby increases or decreases apoptosis-induced cell death.