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Mechanisms of Neuronal Cell Death After Ischemic Injury to the Brain

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Current Review of Cerebrovascular Disease

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Abstract

The mechanisms by which cells die are a subject of great current interest. This interest stems from the fact that some mechanisms of cell death, such as apoptosis, may be susceptible to modification by modern therapeutic interventions [1]. Apoptosis is a highly conserved mechanism among multicellular animals. Multiple paths of commitment to death and multiple components of the central executioner exist. The apoptotic threshold fundamentally depends on the ratios and relative abundance of different positive and negative regulators. Apoptosis plays a primary or secondary role in many pathologic states and diseases, and it represents a newly identified process that may yield more definitive diagnoses, more accurate prognosis, and novel therapies for age-old illnesses [1]. One of the conditions in which neurons may be killed by apoptosis is ischemic injury to the central nervous system (CNS). In this chapter we examine the available evidence in support of the following hypothesis: after an ischemic stroke, secondary to the occlusion of an intracranial artery, some of the neurons within the ischemic territory will die via the mechanism of apoptosis.

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Authors
  1. Ye Zhu-Rong
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  2. Liu Kai-Feng
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  3. Julio H. Garcia
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

    Marc Fisher MD (Professor of Neurology) (Professor of Neurology)

  2. Department of Neurology, University Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Julien Bogousslavsky MD (Professor) (Professor)

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© 2001 Current Medicine, Inc.

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Zhu-Rong, Y., Kai-Feng, L., Garcia, J.H. (2001). Mechanisms of Neuronal Cell Death After Ischemic Injury to the Brain. In: Fisher, M., Bogousslavsky, J. (eds) Current Review of Cerebrovascular Disease. Current Medicine Group, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0001-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0001-4_2

  • Publisher Name: Current Medicine Group, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-0003-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-0001-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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