title: Impaired Eukaryotic Elongation Factor 1A Expression in Alzheimer's Disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent studies have indicated a link between the impaired capacity of de novo protein synthesis and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Moreover, it has been established that eukaryotic elongation factor 1A (eEF1A) plays a critical role in maintaining long-term synaptic plasticity, a cellular model for learning and memory. The aim of the present study is to determine whether brain eEF1A protein levels are dysregulated in brain tissue from AD patients compared with controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Postmortem human brain samples collected from patients clinically diagnosed as AD, and from age-matched healthy controls, were utilized for this study. Both Western blot and immunohistochemistry approaches were utilized to investigate the potential alteration of eEF1A protein levels by using a specific antibody.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our data demonstrate that eEF1A expression is reduced in AD patients in the hippocampus, but not in the cerebellum or midfrontal gyrus. Furthermore, immunohistochemical experiments reveal that neuronal eEF1A reduction in the AD hippocampus is localized to the CA1 and dentate gyrus, but not to the CA3.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dysregulation of eEF1A and its associated signaling pathways might represent novel molecular mechanisms underlying AD pathogenesis. Further investigation is necessary to determine whether eEF1A is a viable therapeutic target for AD and other cognitive syndromes.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine-Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C., USA.
authors.forename: Brenna C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Beckelman
authors.forename: Xueyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: C Dirk
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Keene
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C094814:EEF1A1 protein, human; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1