Bax mRNA level in fetal rat brain stem increases by day 40 of life and then decreases, while level of Bcl-XL mRNA reaches the adult value over one month. Bax mRNA level in the cerebral cortex decreases from day 8 to day 90 of life, while Bcl-XL mRNA level does not change. Judging from Bcl-XL/Bax mRNA ratio, cortical cells exhibit higher readiness to… (More)