In:
The Journal of Neuroscience, Society for Neuroscience, Vol. 29, No. 36 ( 2009-09-09), p. 11385-11392
Abstract:
Caspases are essential in multicellular organisms for inducing cell death during normal development and in the immune system. However, caspases can also trigger the degenerative process under certain conditions such as pathophysiological conditions and aging. Here, we identified Semaphorin 7A (Sema7A) as a novel substrate for caspase-9 that can be used to monitor caspase-9 activity in mice, and found nonapoptotic caspase-9 activation in the aged olfactory bulb (OB). Immunostaining of the OB for the caspase-9-cleaved form of Sema7A revealed abundant caspase-9-activated cells in 2-year-old (aged) but not in 2-month-old (young) mice. In fact, various regions of the aged brain, including the OB, exhibited an increased level of caspase-9 activity. However, the number of dying cells in the aged OB was, intriguingly, much lower ( 〈 20%) than in the OB of young mice. Furthermore, we found that the lower number dying cells in the aged OB was accompanied by a decreased expression of procaspase-3. These results suggest a survival strategy for aged OB neurons, which can no longer regenerate, in which the central apoptotic machinery downstream of caspase-9 is inactivated.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0270-6474
,
1529-2401
DOI:
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4780-08.2009
Language:
English
Publisher:
Society for Neuroscience
Publication Date:
2009
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1475274-8
SSG:
12
Permalink
