title: Drosophila as a model to study age-related neurodegenerative disorders: Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the aging population. Although a variety of drug treatments can delay the onset of disease or temporarily reduce its severity, there is currently no cure or effective long-term treatment. This therapeutic void in part reflects an incomplete understanding of the biochemical pathogenesis of this disease. Model organisms, including invertebrates, have been extensively utilized to gain insight into the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying disease. Here, we will describe how Drosophila has been used to study the function of genes associated with AD and to develop models of this devastating disease.
authors: Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Julia Maeve
authors: JM
authors: Bonner
authors: Gabrielle L
authors: GL
authors: Boulianne
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000503:physiopathology*