Signalling molecules essential for neuronal survival and differentiation

Motoneurons are made in excess throughout development. Initial analysis of the mechanisms that lead to apoptotic cell death during later stages of development and the early postnatal period led to the discovery of neurotrophic factors. These factors comprise different families acting through different tyrosine kinase receptors. Intracellular signalling cascades that lead to the survival of neurons are, on the one hand, the Ras/Raf (Ras-activated factor)/MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) pathway and, on the other, the PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase)/Akt (protein kinase B) pathway. The initial thought of these factors acting as single molecules in separate cascades has been converted into a model in which the dynamics of interaction of these pathways and the subcellular diverse functions of the key regulators have been taken into account. Bag1 (Bcl-2-associated athanogene 1), a molecule that was originally found to act as a co-chaperone of Hsp70 (heat-shock protein 70), also interacts with B-Raf, C-Raf and Akt to phosphorylate Bad (Bcl-2/Bcl-X_L-antagonist, causing cell death), a pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family, and leads to specific subcellular distribution of phosphorylated Akt and B-Raf. These functions lead to survival of embryonic neural stem cells and therefore serve as a key event to regulate the viability of these cells.