Dear Editor,

Neurons appear to have at least two self-destruct programs.1 In common with other types of cell, they have an intracellular suicide program responsible for apoptosis that is triggered when they are damaged, infected, or present in greater numbers than required. Additionally, they appear to have a second, molecularly distinct, self-destruct program in their axons,2 which can be activated locally, in response to transection for example. Activation following transection leads to rapid degeneration of the isolated part of the cut axon, a process termed Wallerian degeneration (WD).3 At present, it is unclear whether any of the regulatory proteins of the apoptotic pathway play a role in regulating WD or other types of localized axonal degeneration. Here, we show that two proteins, Bax and Bak, which are known to be central to the activation of most forms of apoptosis,4 are not involved in WD.

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