100 years and counting: prospects for defeating Alzheimer's disease.
This week marks a century since the first description of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Despite approval of several drugs for AD, the disease continues to rob millions of their memories and their lives. Fortunately, many new therapies directly targeting the mechanisms underlying AD are now in the pipeline. Among the investigative AD therapies in clinical trials are several strategies to block pathogenic amyloid-beta peptides and to rescue vulnerable neurons from degeneration. Complementary but less mature strategies aim to prevent the copathogenic effects of apolipoprotein E and the microtubule-associated protein tau. New insights into selective neuronal vulnerability and the link between aging and AD may provide additional entry points for therapeutic interventions. The predicted increase in AD cases over the next few decades makes the development of better treatments a matter of utmost importance and urgency.
Roberson
Erik D
ED
Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
Mucke
Lennart
L
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007116:Immunization, Passive; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014611:Vaccination
D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D018697:Nootropic Agents