title: Developmental shift in the apostat: comparison of neurones and astrocytes.
abstract: The intrinsic pathway of apoptosis was investigated in cell-free extracts of neurones and astrocytes at various stages of maturation. Neuronal extracts were activated 65-fold after 3 days, 9-fold after 7 days, and were not activated after 10 days in culture. In contrast, astrocyte extracts were activated to a similar extent at all stages, up to 60 days in culture. The co-incubation of neuronal and astrocyte extracts followed by addition of cytochrome c/2'-deoxyadenosine 5'-triphosphate led to a 40-fold activation, suggesting that the development-associated neuronal shift does not involve the appearance of a dominant inhibitor, but rather downregulation of some key component(s) involved in caspase activation.
authors.affiliation: Buck Institute for Age Research, Novato, CA 94945, USA.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Stoka
authors.forename: Sylvia F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Vito
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Turk
authors.forename: Dale E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Bredesen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D045304:Cytochromes c / Q000494:pharmacology; D003838:Deoxyadenine Nucleotides / Q000494:pharmacology; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D003838:Deoxyadenine Nucleotides; D045304:Cytochromes c; C505410:Casp3 protein, rat; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases; C026600:2'-deoxyadenosine triphosphate