Role of BCL-2 in the survival and function of developing and mature sympathetic neurons.

Sympathetic neurons, when placed in culture during the period of naturally occurring cell death, will die by apoptosis when deprived of nerve growth factor (NGF). In this system, the mRNA levels of the BCL-2 family members decrease after NGF deprivation and during apoptosis. Sympathetic neurons from BCL-2-deficient mice died more rapidly after NGF deprivation than neurons from wild-type littermates. Sympathetic neurons of adult animals are relatively independent of NGF for survival. If sympathetic neurons are maintained in vitro for several weeks, loss of acute trophic factor dependence develops with a time course similar to that seen in the intact animal. Examination of neurons from BCL-2-deficient mice showed that BCL-2 expression is not required for the development of trophic factor independence. Therefore, BCL-2 is an important regulator of the survival of sympathetic neurons after NGF deprivation during the period of naturally occurring programmed neuronal death, but BCL-2 is not involved in the development of trophic factor independence in mature sympathetic neurons.