BAX and tuberculosis: As shown in Figures 5, 6, TB treatment caused acute upregulation of active caspase-3, Bax, and PTEN mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner both in the HOG and U251 cells, as well as an increase of the proapoptotic gene Bax and downregulated the antiapoptotic gene Bcl2 (Figures 5A, 6A).