title: Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-cholesterol crosstalk in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most devastating diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). It is characterized by two neuropathological findings: amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. AD is also accompanied by an extensive functional deficit in the cholinergic system, involving the neuronal-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR). Furthermore there is increasing evidence showing a misregulation of cholesterol metabolism in the development of the disease. Since cholesterol affects AChR protein at multiple levels, the cognitive impairment and other neurological correlates of AD might be partly associated with an abnormal crosstalk between the receptor protein and the sterol in this synaptopathy.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca, UNESCO Chair of Biophysics and Molecular Neurobiology, Bahía Blanca, Argentina. rtfjb1@criba.edu.ar
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Barrantes
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Borroni
authors.forename: Sofía
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vallés
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D020239:Receptor Cross-Talk / Q000502:physiology*; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor
chemical_list: C579167:Chrna7 protein, human; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor; D002784:Cholesterol