SGP-2, APOPTOSIS, AND AGING

The activation of a Calcium, Magnesium-dependent endogenous endonuclease that cuts DNA into discrete multiples of a nucleosomal unit seems to play a pivotal role during apoptosis. One of the early events following the activation of the cell death program is the increase in intracellular calcium. This is very similar to what happens during the early steps of cellular proliferation. Induction of c-fos and c-myc oncogenes seems to be another feature shared by these two opposite phenomena. To test this hypothesis we focused our attention on the expression of sulfated glycoprotein 2 mRNA in several systems undergoing cell death, cell proliferation, or aging process.