The cover picture shows a high-resolution fluorescent light microscopy image of primary rat beta cells stained with the mitochondrial marker ATP synthase β (red), the BH3-only pro-apoptotic protein BCL2-associated X (BAX) (green) and the DNA-binding dye Hoechst (blue). In the live cell BAX is localised in the cytosol. After pro-apoptotic stimuli BAX translocates to the mitochondria and triggers apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. In the present issue of Diabetologia (53: 1120-1130) Allagnat et al. report that sustained overproduction of spliced/active X-box binding protein 1 (XBP-1s) induces BAX translocation from the cytosol to the mitochondria, leading to cytochrome c release and apoptosis in primary beta cells.
Cover credit: FLORENT ALLAGNAT
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