Regulators of cerebellar granule cell development act through specific signaling pathways.
The proper development of the central nervous system depends upon a finely tuned balance between cell proliferation and programmed cell death (PCD). Although PCD was initially believed to depend solely on the inability of certain neurons to obtain access to a limited supply of trophic factors, it has become apparent that the local production of death signals is also critical. In this Viewpoint, we discuss several pathways implicated in the survival of cerebellar granule cells- both pathways that protect from apoptosis and pathways that promote apoptosis-and describe how these disparate pathways converge on the final common mediators of PCD. Information on other important pathways implicated in granule cell survival may be found in the Connections Maps.
Vaudry
David
D
European Institute for Peptide Research (IFRMP 23), Laboratoryof Cellular and Molecular Neuroendocrinology, INSERM U413, University of Rouen, 76821 Mont-Saint-Aignan, France. david.vaudry@univ-rouen.fr
Falluel-Morel
Anthony
A
Leuillet
Sébastien
S
Vaudry
Hubert
H
Gonzalez
Bruno J
BJ
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D002470:Cell Survival; D002525:Cerebellar Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism
D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases