title: Cell death in the nervous system.
abstract: Programmed cell death is an important process in many types of cell. In the central nervous system of vertebrates, up to 50% of neurons die during development. The fact that in many cases neuronal cell death depends on macromolecular synthesis suggests that there is a genetic program that must be activated for cell death to occur. In this review, general features of cell death are discussed; in addition, the role of putative death-associated genes is outlined. Finally, the influence of neurotrophic factors on cell death is described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Structural Biology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, USA.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Mahalik
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Owens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000502:physiology*; D009420:Nervous System / Q000166:cytology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
chemical_list: D009414:Nerve Growth Factors