title: Aβ toxicity in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Alzheimer's Disease (AD), the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder, is characterized by progressive cognitive decline, synaptic loss, the formation of extracellular β-amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, and neuronal cell death. Despite the massive neuronal loss in the 'late stage' of disease, dendritic spine loss represents the best pathological correlate to the cognitive impairment in AD patients. The 'amyloid hypothesis' of AD recognizes the Aβ peptide as the principal player in the pathological process. Many lines of evidence point out to the neurotoxicity of Aβ, highlighting the correlation between soluble Aβ oligomer accumulation, rather than insoluble Aβ fibrils and disease progression. Pathological increase of Aβ in AD brains, resulting from an imbalance between its production, aggregation and clearance, might target mitochondrial function promoting a progressive synaptic impairment. The knowledge of the exact mechanisms by which Aβ peptide impairs neuronal function will help us to design new pharmacological tools for preventing AD neurodegeneration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Neurosciences, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00143 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Virve
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cavallucci
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Amelio
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cecconi
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides