title: Regulation of apoptosis-associated proteins in cell death following transient focal ischemia in rat pups.
abstract: Apoptosis is a process whereby developmental or environmental stimuli activate a genetic programme to execute a specific series of events that culminate in the death and efficient disposal of a cell. Although a series of recent data suggested that neuronal death following cerebral ischemia occurs through an apoptotic pathway, additional work is needed to establish the existence of a causal relationship between gene expression and DNA breaks in neuronal death. We investigate the role of p53 and Bax proteins in the induction of apoptosis induced by a new transient focal ischemia model in the rat pup. Our results show that wild-type p53 exerts a significant and time-dependent effect in the initiation of apoptosis, and that apoptosis is induced via DNA-strand breakage. Subsequently, increased Bax expression was observed in the cytoplasm of dying cells located in the infarct, whereas an increased Bcl-2 and hsp72 staining was detectable in survival cells and reactive glia present at the periphery of the lesion.
authors.affiliation: Université René Descartes, INSERM U29, 123 bd de Port-Royal, 75014 Paris, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Renolleau
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Benjelloun
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ben-Ari
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Charriaut-Marlangue