BAK1 and leukemia: To evaluate the involvement of mitochondrial apoptosis underlying sgCOX4I1 and venetoclax treatment, we generated a leukemia cell model depleted of the apoptosis effectors BAX and BAK (Figure 6E).[23] We observed that cellular apoptosis, as measured by Annexin V positivity (Figure 6F), was efficiently induced by either venetoclax or sgCOX4I1 and further enhanced by their combination in control cells (sgLuc/Ren; sgRNAs targeting Luciferase and Renilla genes).