APOPTOSIS IN NEURONS

Review Paper presented at Biotechcellence'98
February 12th-13th 1998
Anna University, Chennai

ABSTRACT:
Cells can and often do kill themselves in a process known as apoptosis. This ability to die is essential to the proper functioning of the body; flawed regulation may result in disease states. This article is an overview of the apoptotic process and its significance in neuronal death during embryonic development as well as the progressive loss of brain neurons in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzhiemer's disease, Parkinson's disease etc.
It is likely that a combination of factors such as free radicals, insufficient levels of nerve growth factors, excessive levels of neurotransmitters, gene alterations and control points in transcription and translation could cause apoptosis.