Chapter category: Neurodegenerative Disease
The Role of Presenilins in the Cell Cycle and Apoptosis
Cell-Cycle Mechanisms and Neuronal Cell Death
Edited by: Agata Copani and Ferdinando NicolettiISBN: 0-306-47850-1
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Chapter authors:
Mervyn J. Monteiro
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, affecting approximately 10% of individuals by 65 years of age and 47% by 85 years of age. Whereas the majority of AD cases appear to be sporadic, and occur in individuals that have no apparent family history, a small percentage of cases (~5%), termed early-onset familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD) arise in individuals at an unusually young age, with some developing disease in as early as the third decade of life. Molecular genetic studies have revealed that the majority of FAD are associated with dominant inheritance of mutations in three genes, one encoding the ?-amyloid precursor protein (APP) on chromosome 21, and two encoding homologous proteins presenilin 1 and 2 (PS1 and PS2) on chromosomes 14 and 1, respectively. 1 The cause of late-onset AD appears to be much more complex, as several genes have been implicated as modifiers or risk factors for the disease.2 Although 100 years have elapsed since AD was first recognized as a separate disease entity, the last two decades have produced some of the most significant breakthroughs in our understanding of the disease. Despite this progress, the precise mechanisms that lead to the massive demise of neurons that characterize those afflicted with AD remain unresolved, and there is no known treatment to prevent or cure the disease. In this review, I will summarize information on the key proteins involved in AD pathology, especially as it relates to apoptosis, followed by a more in-depth focus on the role of presenilins in cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. I will describe why an understanding of the misregulation of cell cycle events and apoptosis in AD may provide valuable insights for possible therapeutic interventions to prevent or cure the disease.
Additional chapters from this book:
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The Role of Presenilins in the Cell Cycle and Apoptosis
Mervyn J. Monteiro
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, affecting approximately 10% of individuals by 65 years of age and 47% by 85 years of age. Whereas the majority of AD cas...
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Cell division is among the most basic of biological processes. All life forms, from blue-green algae to human hepatocytes, ultimately depend for their survival on the ability of one cell to create t...
Alzheimer Disease—A New Beginning, or a Final Exit?
Mark E. Obrenovich, Arun K. Raina, Osamu Ogawa, Craig S. Atwood, Laura Morelli and Mark A. Smith
Today, a new chapter is being written in the book of Alzheimer disease, one that is challenging the longstanding view that adult neurons are incapable of division, remain nonproliferative, and...
