Bad is a member of the Bcl-2 family protein that selectively dimerize with Bcl-xL and Bcl-2 resulting in cell death. Survival factors such as IL-3 can inhibit the apoptotic activity of Bad by activating intracellular signaling pathways that result in the phosphorylation of Bad at Ser112 and Ser 136. Phosphorylation at these sites results in the binding of Bad to 14-3-3 proteins and the inhibition of Bad binding to Bcl-xL and Bcl-2. Recently, Akt has also been shown to promote cell survival via its ability to phosphorylate Bad at Ser136.