Ohgoh M, Yamazaki K, Ogura H, Nishizawa Y, Tanaka I
Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd., Tokodai, Tsukuba, 300-2635, Ibaraki, Japan.
Neurosci Lett. 2000 Jul 21;288(3):167-70. doi: 10.1016/s0304-3940(00)01213-1.
An autosomal recessive neurological mutant, ataxia (ax) mouse, was investigated to determine whether neuronal cell death occurs in the brain. The brains of homozygotes (ax(J)/ax(J)) and phenotypically normal littermates (ax(J)/+ or +/+) aged at 23-38 days were examined by the terminal dUTP nick-end-labeling (TUNEL) method. A few TUNEL-positive cells were observed in the granule cell layer of the cerebellum, the dentate gyrus, and the olfactory bulb of normal mice. In the affected mice, the number of TUNEL-positive cells was significantly increased in the cerebellum, particularly in the granule cell layer, compared to normal littermates. The findings suggest that ax mice will be useful as a model for studies on the genetic basis of apoptotic neuronal cell death.
