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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Published on: January 9, 2015
Axonal self-destruction and neurodegeneration
Martin C Raff1, Alan V Whitmore, John T Finn
1MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology and Cell Biology Unit and the Biology Department, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. m.raff@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
Neurons seem to have at least two self-destruct programs. Like other cell types, they have an intracellular death program for undergoing apoptosis when they are injured, infected, or not needed. In addition, they apparently have a second, molecularly distinct self-destruct program in their axon. This program is activated when the axon is severed and leads to the rapid degeneration of the isolated part of the cut axon. Do neurons also use this second program to prune their axonal tree during development and to conserve resources in response to chronic insults?
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