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Activation of caspase‐3 in axotomized rat retinal ganglion cells in vivo
Author(s) -
Kermer Pawel,
Klöcker Nikolaj,
Labes Monika,
Thomsen Susanne,
Srinivasan Anu,
Bähr Mathias
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(99)00747-4
Subject(s) - in vivo , ganglion , retinal ganglion cell , microbiology and biotechnology , apoptosis , chemistry , caspase , retinal , axotomy , caspase 3 , neuroscience , biology , programmed cell death , regeneration (biology) , biochemistry
Recently, we have shown that inhibition of caspase‐3‐like caspases is the most effective treatment strategy to protect adult rat retinal ganglion cells from secondary death following optic nerve transection. In the present study, we localized active caspase‐3 in axotomized retinal ganglion cells in vivo and demonstrated a co‐localization of the active p20 fragment and TUNEL‐staining in some of these cells. In line with this, we detected an enhanced cleavage and activity of caspase‐3 protein in retinal tissue after lesion, while caspase‐3 mRNA expression remained unchanged. These data suggest caspase‐3 as an important mediator of secondary retinal ganglion cell death following axotomy in vivo.