The search for novel avenues for the therapy and prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
The prevention and therapy of neurodegenerative disorders in the elderly is one of the greatest challenges facing molecular medicine today. Alzheimer's is an excellent example of a disease being studied by many groups worldwide. Indeed, while many molecular details of this disorder have been elucidated in the last two decades, there are still no strictly causal therapies available. While certain symptomatic pharmacological treatments are frequently employed, current molecular medicine research is focused on central Alzheimer-associated biochemical changes to find the key switch that turns the detrimental Alzheimer process on. Although amyloid beta proteins and tau proteins are the focus of most investigations, intracellular signaling has recently gained a lot of attention as well. Signaling mediated by glycogen synthase kinase is intensively studied since it is a survival factor for neurons, is directly linked to Alzheimer-specific pathobiochemistry, and its activity can be modulated by well-known neuroprotective factors such as the female sex hormone estrogen.
Institute for Physiological Chemistry & Pathobiochemistry, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Medical School, Mainz, Germany. cbehl@uni-mainz.de
Christian
C
Behl
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans