title: Autophagy in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Autophagy is a degradation pathway for the turnover of dysfunctional organelles or aggregated proteins in cells. Extensive literature exists supporting a causative role of mitochondrial dysfunction and amyloid-beta protein in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Furthermore, a link between mitochondrial dysfunction, amyloid-beta levels and autophagy has been reported to occur in AD. However, it is not yet clear if autophagy plays a causative role, a protective role or is a consequence of the disease process itself. Understanding the exact role of autophagy in different stages of AD progression may help to design more effective therapeutic strategies. A central issue in developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases involves understanding why and when responses to stress or injury can help prevent neuronal degeneration and death.
authors.affiliation: University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Paula I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: Renato X
authors.initials: RX
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Xiongwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Hyoung-gon
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Casadesus
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perry
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D001343:Autophagy / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides