IMR Press / JIN / Volume 21 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2101030
Open Access Review
Programmed cell death in cerebellar Purkinje neurons
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1 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, 22110 Irbid, Jordan
*Correspondence: nserekat@just.edu.jo (Nour S. Erekat)
J. Integr. Neurosci. 2022, 21(1), 30; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2101030
Submitted: 20 April 2021 | Revised: 31 May 2021 | Accepted: 10 August 2021 | Published: 28 January 2022
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Apoptosis, autophagy and necrosis are the three main types of programmed cell death. One or more of these types of programmed cell death may take place in neurons leading to their death in various neurodegenerative disorders in humans. Purkinje neurons (PNs) are among the most highly vulnerable population of neurons to cell death in response to intrinsic hereditary diseases or extrinsic toxic, hypoxic, ischemic, and traumatic injury. In this review, we will describe the three main types of programmed cell death, including the molecular mechanisms and the sequence of events in each of them, and thus illustrating the intracellular proteins that mediate and regulate each of these types. Then, we will discuss the role of Ca2+ in PN function and increased vulnerability to cell death. Additionally, PN death will be described in animal models, namely lurcher mutant mouse and shaker mutant rat, in order to illustrate the potential therapeutic implications of programmed cell death in PNs by reviewing the previous studies that were carried out to interfere with the programmed cell death in an attempt to rescue PNs from death.

Keywords
Neurodegeneration
Purkinje neurons
Programmed cell death
Apoptosis
Autophagy
Necrosis
Mutations
Necroptosis
Figures
Fig. 1.
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