PMID: 9547242Apr 18, 1998Paper

Bcl-2 accelerates the maturation of early sensory neurons

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
G MiddletonA M Davies

Abstract

Bcl-2 is a cytoplasmic protein that blocks apoptosis in a wide variety of cell types. Here we report a novel role for Bcl-2 in the early stages of neuronal development. Shortly after differentiating from progenitor cells, sensory neurons undergo a distinct morphological change; initially they have small, spindle-shaped, phase-dark cell bodies that become large, spherical, and phase-bright. Early sensory neurons cultured from the trigeminal ganglia of bcl-2-/- embryos at embryonic day 11 (E11) and E12 underwent this change more slowly than trigeminal neurons of wild-type embryos of the same ages. The delay was not attributable to the well documented role of Bcl-2 in preventing apoptosis, because Bcl-2-deficient early sensory neurons survived as well as wild-type neurons. Accordingly, there was a significantly smaller number of the more mature type of neuron in the early trigeminal ganglia of bcl-2-/- embryos, yet the number of neurons in the trigeminal ganglia of bcl-2-/- and wild-type embryos was similar. The absence of Bcl-2 did not cause a uniform delay in the developmental program of sensory neurons, because the time course of nerve growth factor receptor expression (both trkA and p75) was unaffected in the trigeminal neuron...Continue Reading

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