Generation and Use of Immunological Reagents to Characterize Neuronal Death

对坏死性细胞死亡机制的阐明是 对于理解发育、体内平衡和病理学 在神经系统中。 在水蛭中， 基因mec-4和deg-I诱导特定群体的死亡， 神经元 死亡的神经元以形态学改变为特征 通常在经历坏死类型细胞的细胞中观察到 死亡 MEC-4在六触变性中起关键作用 受体神经元，通过直接杀死细胞或通过产生 这是一个激活“死亡程序”的信号。 光学和电子 将利用显微镜记录变性过程 的触摸细胞。 针对mec-4蛋白的抗体将被 用来跟踪这种蛋白质的命运在正常和临终触摸 细胞 水蛭神经系统的简单性 使用遗传学方法剖析细胞死亡机制的优点， 分子和细胞方法。 这些研究承诺， 有助于我们理解突变蛋白如何诱导 神经元细胞死亡

The elucidation of mechanisms involved in necrotic cell death is important for understanding development, homeostasis and pathology in the nervous system. In the leech, dominant mutations in two genes, mec-4 and deg-I, induce the death of specific groups of neurons. Dying neurons are characterized by morphological changes commonly observed in cells undergoing a necrotic type of cell death. Mec-4 plays a key role in the degeneration of six touch receptor neurons, by directly killing cells or by generating a signal that activates a "death program". Light and electron microscopy will be utilized to document the process of degeneration of the touch cells. Antibodies against the mec-4 protein will be used to follow the fate of this protein in normal and dying touch cells. The simplicity of the leech nervous system offers advantages for dissecting cell death mechanisms using genetic, molecular and cellular approaches. These studies promise to contribute to our understanding of how mutant proteins can induce neuronal cell death.