Apoptosis is a process of controlled cellular death whereby the activation of specific deathsignaling pathways leads to deletion of cells from tissue. Apoptosis is considered a vital component of various processes including normal cell turnover, proper development and functioning of the immune system, hormone-dependent atrophy, embryonic development and chemical-induced cell death.

About 50% of spinal motoneurons undergo programmed cell death (PCD) after target contact, but little is known about how this process is initiated. Embryonic motoneurons coexpress the death receptor Fas and its ligand FasL at the stage at which PCD is about to begin. In the absence of trophic factors, many motoneurons die in culture within 2 d. Most (75%) of these were saved by Fas-Fc receptor b...

To identify genes involved in programmed cell death (PCD) in Caenorhabditis elegans, we screened a comprehensive set of chromosomal deficiencies for alterations in the pattern of PCD throughout embryonic development. From a set of 58 deficiencies, which collectively remove approximately 74% of the genome, four distinct classes were identified. In class I (20 deficiencies), no significant deviat...

Programmed cell death is a distinct genetic and biochemical pathway essential to metazoans. An intact death pathway is required for successful embryonic development and the maintenance of normal tissue homeostasis. Apoptosis has proven to be tightly interwoven with other essential cell pathways. The identification of critical control points in the cell death pathway has yielded fundamental insi...

Programmed cell death is an established developmental process in the nervous system. Whereas the regulation and the developmental role of neuronal cell death have been widely demonstrated, the relevance of cell death during early neurogenesis, the cells affected and the identity of regulatory local growth factors remain poorly characterized. We have previously described specific in vivo pattern...

A major limitation for increasing litter size in swine is embryonic loss that occurs during the 2nd to 3rd wk of gestation. High ovulation rates of modern sows have more than supplied the potential number of embryos necessary to improve litter size. The current challenge is determining how early conceptus development affects the ability to maintain the viability through the remaining 90 d of ge...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary vitamin E on reproductive and productive parameters in Japanese quails. A total number of 240 female and 80 male Japanese quail were divided into five treatments with four replications in a completely randomized design. Experimental diets were zero control, 30, 60, 120 and 240 mg kg-1 of vitamin E. Fertility and total hatch...