Previous studies have shown that in neuronal cells the developmental phenomenon of programmed cell death is an active process, requiring synthesis of both RNA and protein. This presumably reflects a requirement for novel gene products to effect cell death. It is shown here that the death of nerve growth factor-deprived neuronal PC12 cells occurs at the same rate as that of rat sympathetic neuro...

Glutamate is the principal excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. It has been reported that glutamate mediates cell death via NMDA receptors in both acute (e.g. stroke) and chronic (e.g. Alzheimer's disease) neurodegenerative insults. So the dissection of glutamate evoked signal transduction may have clinical significance for neuroprotection. The stress-activated p...

It is well-established that hyperthermia increases neuronal death and worsens stroke outcome. However, little is known about the mechanisms of how hyperthermia is involved in this neuronal death process. In the present study, we examined how temperature increase exacerbates neuronal death using a model of chemical ischemia. Chemical ischemia was induced by treating SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells w...

background and objective: as apoptotic cell death is extremely involved in physiological development and many pathological situations such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, the understanding of its molecular machinery can be useful in designing new therapeutic strategies. the present study investigated the temporal expression of the proapoptotic protein bax in adult spinal motoneurons. ...

Neurodegenerative diseases contain Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), are characterized by neuronal death and neuronal degeneration in specific regions of the central nervous system (CNS). Microglia are the basic immune brain cells and play a role in homeostasis after inflammation challenge. Microglia involves in Neurodegenerative disease...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the progressive loss of motor neurons leading to paralysis and death. Mutations of the human Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) are found in some cases of familial ALS (fALS). Recent evidences suggest the accumulation of intracellular calcium is one of the primary mechanisms of motor neuronal degeneration. In th...

Accumulating evidence suggests that amyloid protein aggregation is pathogenic in many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. However, the mechanisms by which protein aggregation mediates cellular dysfunction and overt cell death are unknown. Recent reports have focused on the potential role of amyloid oligomers or protofibrils as a neurotoxic form of amyloid-beta (Abeta) and related amyloid a...

In Alzheimer's disease, cytochrome c-dependent apoptosis is a crucial pathway in neuronal cell death. Although beta-amyloid (Aβ) oligomers are known to be the neurotoxins responsible for neuronal cell death, the underlying mechanisms remain largely elusive. Here, we report that the oligomeric form of synthetic Aβ of 42 amino acids elicits death of HT-22 cells. But, when expression of a bcl-2 fa...

Zika virus (ZIKV) has recently caused a worldwide outbreak of infections associated with severe neurological complications, including microcephaly in infants born from infected mothers. ZIKV exhibits high neurotropism and promotes neuroinflammation and neuronal cell death. We have recently demonstrated that N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) blockade by memantine prevents ZIKV-induced neuron...