About this Research Topic
In the recent years, accumulating reports have shaped the idea of an intriguing new role for the apoptosis pathway in the nervous system. Programmed cell death, governed by apoptotic proteins, typically promotes the removal of superfluous or deleterious cells during the development and maintenance of tissues and organs. While apoptosis plays a crucial role in influencing the early stages of the nervous system development, emerging evidence suggest that a non-lethal function of the apoptotic proteins is essential to establish a functional neuronal networks. Caspases, for instance, are activated without inducing neuronal death in order to regulate synaptic pruning, axon outgrowth, branching and synaptic plasticity. Dysregulation of this non-canonical function of the cell death pathway may lead to neurological disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
The goal of this Research Topic is to give an overview of the current knowledge and present recent advances on the non-canonical role of the apoptotic signalling pathway in neuronal function. We encourage original research reports and articles, methods and review articles that present new studies or discuss theories on the possible implication of the non-lethal function of the apoptotic pathway in the heathy and pathologic nervous system.
These may include recent advances on:
- Unexpected function of the apoptotic regulators in the nervous system of mammalian and non-mammalian organisms
- Neuronal and glial caspase substrates associated with the non-lethal activity of caspases
- Identification of non-apoptotic function of the death receptors and adaptors in neurons and glial cells
- Molecular and cellular mechanisms of activation and restriction of the apoptotic pathway, including its spatial control in neurons
- Pathological consequences of the dysregulation of the apoptotic machinery in neurons and glial cells
- Identification of apoptotic regulators variants expressed in the nervous system
- Methods and techniques particularly adapted to the study of limited activity of the cell death pathway in the nervous system.
The goal of this Research Topic is to give an overview of the current knowledge and present recent advances on the non-canonical role of the apoptotic signalling pathway in neuronal function. We encourage original research reports and articles, methods and review articles that present new studies or discuss theories on the possible implication of the non-lethal function of the apoptotic pathway in the heathy and pathologic nervous system.
These may include recent advances on:
- Unexpected function of the apoptotic regulators in the nervous system of mammalian and non-mammalian organisms
- Neuronal and glial caspase substrates associated with the non-lethal activity of caspases
- Identification of non-apoptotic function of the death receptors and adaptors in neurons and glial cells
- Molecular and cellular mechanisms of activation and restriction of the apoptotic pathway, including its spatial control in neurons
- Pathological consequences of the dysregulation of the apoptotic machinery in neurons and glial cells
- Identification of apoptotic regulators variants expressed in the nervous system
- Methods and techniques particularly adapted to the study of limited activity of the cell death pathway in the nervous system.
Keywords: Caspases, apoptosome, Bcl-2 family, death receptors, neurons, glial cells, synapse, branching, plasticity, neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, nervous system
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