Grant: Operating Grant

Neuronal cell death is an important event during brain development and in diseases related to the brain such as stroke. Recent efforts in this field have focused on understanding the regulatory processes which control one type of death known as apoptosis. Previous evidence indicated that certain signalling elements play a key role in controlling the apoptotic death of neurons and that these events are uniquely arranged depending upon cell type and the initiator of death. We have recently made the exciting observation that dying neurons utilize cell cycle components to signal for death. The present research is designed to uncover how these abnormal cell division signals actually cause death following ischemia and stroke. In understanding these pathways, we hope to, not only gain an appreciation for an important basic biological process, but also devise therapeutic strategies to treat brain injury conditions such as stroke.