We have previously shown that two tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors (TNFR) exhibit
antagonistic functions during neurodegenerative processes in vivo with TNFR1 aggravating
and TNFR2 reducing neuronal cell loss, respectively. To elucidate the neuroprotective
signaling pathways of TNFR2, we investigated glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in primary
cortical neurons. TNF-expressing neurons from TNF-transgenic mice were found to be
strongly protected from glutamate-induced apoptosis. Neurons from wild type and TNFR1 …