Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-1994
Publication Title
Development (Cambridge, England)
Department
Geisel School of Medicine
Abstract
Cell death is a common feature of neural development in all vertebrates. The bcl-2 proto-oncogene has been shown to protect a variety of cell types from programmed cell death. We have examined the distribution of bcl-2 protein in the developing and adult nervous systems. bcl-2 protein is widespread during embryonic development. Proliferating neuroepithelial cells of ventricular zones as well as the postmitotic cells of the cortical plate, cerebellum, hippocampus and spinal cord express bcl-2. Postnatally, bcl-2 is principally retained in the granule cells of the cerebellum and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. bcl-2 expression in the CNS declines with aging. In the peripheral nervous system, neurons and supporting cells of sympathetic and sensory ganglia retain substantial bcl-2 protein throughout life. The widespread expression of bcl-2 in CNS and PNS neurons during embryonic development and its selective retention in the adult PNS is consistent with a role for bcl-2 in regulating neuronal survival. In addition, the expression of bcl-2 in some neuronal populations beyond the recognized period of cell death is suggestive of a role for bcl-2 beyond simply protecting neurons from developmental cell death.
Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation
Merry, Diane E.; Veis, Deborah J.; Hickey, William F.; and Korsmeyer, Stanley J., "BCL-2 Protein Expression is Widespread in the Developing Nervous-System and Retained in the Adult PNS" (1994). Dartmouth Scholarship. 753.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/753
