First Author | Merry DE | Year | 1997 |
Journal | Annu Rev Neurosci | Volume | 20 |
Pages | 245-67 | PubMed ID | 9056714 |
Mgi Jnum | J:38938 | Mgi Id | MGI:86324 |
Doi | 10.1146/annurev.neuro.20.1.245 | Citation | Merry DE, et al. (1997) Bcl-2 gene family in the nervous system. Annu Rev Neurosci 20:245-67 |
abstractText | A growing family of genes that share homology with the bcl-2 proto-oncogene is involved in the regulation of cell death. Many of these proteins show widespread expression and are expressed in the nervous system in developing and adult organisms. A physiologic role for Bcl-2 and Bcl-x in neuron survival has been shown. In addition, these proteins have been shown to protect neurons from a wide array of toxic insults. In this review, we discuss the Bcl-2 family of proteins with regard to their structure and interactions. We then discuss the role of apoptotic cell death in the development of the nervous system and as a response to neuronal injury. Lastly, we discuss the evidence for a role for these cell death regulators in neuronal death decisions. |