PMID- 8921264
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19970206
LR  - 20190815
IS  - 0953-816X (Print)
IS  - 0953-816X (Linking)
VI  - 8
IP  - 8
DP  - 1996 Aug
TI  - Long-term survival of retinal ganglion cells following optic nerve section in 
      adult bcl-2 transgenic mice.
PG  - 1735-45
AB  - The bcl-2 gene codes for a protein that acts as a powerful inhibitor of active 
      cell death. Since the transection of the optic nerve in adult mammalians starts a 
      massive process of degeneration in retinal ganglion cells, we investigated 
      whether the overexpression of bcl-2 in adult transgenic mice can protect the 
      axotomized ganglion cells. We performed intracranial optic nerve transection on 
      both wild type and transgenic adult mice, and we tested cell survival 2 or 3.5 
      months after axotomy. The percentage of surviving ganglion cells after optic 
      nerve section was computed by combining the counts of the optic nerve fibres in 
      intact nerves with the cell density measures of the ganglion cell layer of 
      axotomized retinae. From these data we found that in transgenic mice 
      approximately 65% of ganglion cells survived 3.5 months after axotomy. In 
      contrast, 2 months after surgery, < 10% of ganglion cells were left in wild type 
      retinae. We have also examined the morphology and fine structure of the proximal 
      stump of the sectioned optic nerves by light and electron microscopy. In the 
      transgenic mice a very large number of axons survived after surgery and they 
      still exhibited fairly normal morphology and ultrastructure. On the other hand 
      the wild type transected nerves had only a few visible axons that displayed clear 
      signs of degeneration. We conclude that the overexpression of Bcl-2 protein in 
      central neurons is a very effective strategy to ensure long-term survival in 
      axotomized cells.
FAU - Cenni, M C
AU  - Cenni MC
AD  - Istituto di Neurofisiologia del CNR, Italy.
FAU - Bonfanti, L
AU  - Bonfanti L
FAU - Martinou, J C
AU  - Martinou JC
FAU - Ratto, G M
AU  - Ratto GM
FAU - Strettoi, E
AU  - Strettoi E
FAU - Maffei, L
AU  - Maffei L
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - France
TA  - Eur J Neurosci
JT  - The European journal of neuroscience
JID - 8918110
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Cell Survival/physiology
MH  - Female
MH  - *Genes, bcl-2
MH  - Male
MH  - Mice
MH  - Mice, Inbred C57BL
MH  - Mice, Transgenic
MH  - Neurons/physiology
MH  - Optic Nerve/*physiology
MH  - Retinal Ganglion Cells/*physiology
MH  - Time Factors
EDAT- 1996/08/01 00:00
MHDA- 1996/08/01 00:01
CRDT- 1996/08/01 00:00
PHST- 1996/08/01 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1996/08/01 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1996/08/01 00:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.1996.tb01317.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Eur J Neurosci. 1996 Aug;8(8):1735-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.1996.tb01317.x.