ISSN:
1471-4159
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract: Programmed cell death has been proposed to play a role in the death of neurons in acute and chronic degenerative neurologic disease. There is now evidence that the caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, mediate programmed cell death in various cells. In neurons, caspase-3 (CPP32/Yama/apopain), in particular, has been proposed to play a role. We examined the expression of caspase-3 in three models of programmed cell death affecting neurons of the substantia nigra in the rat: natural developmental neuron death and induced developmental death following either striatal target injury with quinolinic acid or dopamine terminal lesion with intrastriatal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine. Using an antibody to the large (p17) subunit of activated caspase-3, we have found that activated enzyme is expressed in apoptotic profiles in all models. Increased p17 immunostaining correlated with increased enzyme activity. The sub-cellular distribution of activated caspase-3 differed among the models: In natural cell death and the target injury model, it was strictly nuclear, whereas in the toxin model, it was also cytoplasmic. We conclude that p17 immunostaining is a useful marker for programmed cell death in neurons of the substantia nigra.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1471-4159.1999.0730322.x
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