title: Bcl-2 rescues motoneurons from early cell death in the cervical spinal cord of the chicken embryo.
abstract: Motoneurons (MNs) in the cervical spinal cord of the chicken embryo undergo programmed cell death (PCD) between embryonic day (E) 4 and E5. The intracellular molecules regulating this early phase of PCD remain unknown. Here we show that introduction of Bcl-2 by a replication-competent avian retroviral vector prevented MN degeneration at E4.5, whereas the expression of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) was ineffective. Bcl-2 expression did not affect the number of Islet-1/2-positive MNs at the onset of cell death (E4). However, when examined at the end of the cell death period (E5.5), the number of Islet-1/2-positive MNs was clearly increased in Bcl-2-transfected embryos compared with control and GFP-transfected embryos. Activation of caspase-3, which is normally observed in this early MN death, was also prevented by Bcl-2. Thus, MNs in the cervical spinal cord appear to use intracellular pathway(s) for early PCD that is responsive to Bcl-2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1295 Japan.
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Chie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sakuma
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Carolanne E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Milligan
authors.forename: Ronald W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Oppenheim
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yaginuma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002642:Chick Embryo; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D019254:Genes, bcl-2 / Q000502:physiology*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism