title: Apoptotic cell death of cerebellar granule neurons in genetically ataxia (ax) mice.
abstract: An autosomal recessive neurological mutant, ataxia (ax) mouse, was investigated to determine whether neuronal cell death occurs in the brain. The brains of homozygotes (ax(J)/ax(J)) and phenotypically normal littermates (ax(J)/+ or +/+) aged at 23-38 days were examined by the terminal dUTP nick-end-labeling (TUNEL) method. A few TUNEL-positive cells were observed in the granule cell layer of the cerebellum, the dentate gyrus, and the olfactory bulb of normal mice. In the affected mice, the number of TUNEL-positive cells was significantly increased in the cerebellum, particularly in the granule cell layer, compared to normal littermates. The findings suggest that ax mice will be useful as a model for studies on the genetic basis of apoptotic neuronal cell death.
authors.affiliation: Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd., Tokodai, Tsukuba, 300-2635, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohgoh
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogura
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishizawa
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics*; D001259:Ataxia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology*; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*