Garcia I, Martinou I, Tsujimoto Y, Martinou J C
Department of Pathology, Centre Médical Universitaire, Geneva, Switzerland.
Science. 1992 Oct 9;258(5080):302-4. doi: 10.1126/science.1411528.
Approximately half of the neurons produced during embryogenesis normally die before adulthood. Although target-derived neurotrophic factors are known to be major determinants of programmed cell death--apoptosis--the molecular mechanisms by which trophic factors interfere with cell death regulation are largely unknown. Overexpression of the bcl-2 proto-oncogene in cultured sympathetic neurons has now been shown to prevent apoptosis normally induced by deprivation of nerve growth factor. This finding, together with the previous demonstration of bcl-2 expression in the nervous system, suggests that the Bcl-2 protein may be a major mediator of the effects of neurotrophic factors on neuronal survival.
