Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

Bcl-2 Protein Expression Is Widespread In The Developing Nervous-System And Retained In The Adult Pns, Diane E. Merry, Deborah J. Veis, William F. Hickey, Stanley J. Korsmeyer

Dartmouth Scholarship

Cell death is a common feature of neural development in all vertebrates. The bcl-2 proto-oncogene has been shown to protect a variety of cell types from programmed cell death. We have examined the distribution of bcl-2 protein in the developing and adult nervous systems. bcl-2 protein is widespread during embryonic development. Proliferating neuroepithelial cells of ventricular zones as well as the postmitotic cells of the cortical plate, cerebellum, hippocampus and spinal cord express bcl-2. Postnatally, bcl-2 is principally retained in the granule cells of the cerebellum and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. bcl-2 expression in the CNS declines with aging. …