A Colonial Chordate's Cyclical Brain Degeneration is accompanied by multiple forms of Neural Cell Death

Due to the anatomical complexity of animals, studies of neuronal cell death are currently mostly conducted in vitro using mammalian cell lines. Solid and basic creature models are extremely helpful to in vivo examinations on neuronal cell demise and its job in the life form in general. Tunicates are marine invertebrates, which are regarded as members of the vertebrate sister order More specifically, the marine colonial tunicate Botryllus schlosseri, which shares a high degree of genomic homology with mammals has the potential to shed light on the development of neuronal cell death mechanisms that are associated with aging and neurodegenerative diseases Tunicates, as translational models, are of key significance for two principal reasons: when pharmacological interventions may still be effective, they provide an to study the entire process of neurodegeneration, including those relevant to the pre-clinical stages of human neurodegenerative disorders; They provide a novel, combined model of cyclical degeneration and neural development in colonial species, revealing potential neural protection mechanisms in growing buds