Excitotoxins in neuronal apoptosis and necrosis

Neuronal loss is common to many neurodegenerative diseases. Although necrosis is a common histopathologic feature observed in neuropathologic conditions, evidence is increasing that apoptosis can significantly contribute to neuronal demise. The prevalence of either type of cell death, apoptosis or necrosis, and the relevance for the progression of disease is still unclear. The debate on the occurrence and prevalence of one or the other type of death in pathologic conditions such as stroke or neurotoxic injury may in part be resolved by the proposal that different types of cell death within a tissue reflect either partial or complete execution of a common death program. Apoptosis is an active process of cell destruction, characterized morphologically by cell shrinkage, chromatin aggregation with extensive genomic fragmentation, and nuclear pyknosis. In contrast, necrosis is characterized by cell swelling, linked to rapid energy loss, and generalized disruption of ionic and internal homeostasis. This swiftly leads to membrane lysis, release of intracellular constituents that evoke a local inflammatory reaction, edema, and injury to the surrounding tissue. During the past few years, our laboratories have studied the signals and mechanisms responsible for induction or prevention of apoptosis/necrosis in neuronal injury and this is the subject of this review.