title: Neurogenic Traditional Chinese Medicine as a Promising Strategy for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.
abstract: Hippocampal neurogenesis plays a critical role in the formation of new neurons during learning and memory development. Attenuation of neurogenesis in the brain is one of the primary causes of dementia in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and, conversely, modulating the process of hippocampal neurogenesis benefit patients with AD. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), particularly herbal medicine, has been in use for thousands of years in Asia and many regions of the world for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we summarize the role of neurotrophic factors, signal transducing factors, epigenetic modulators and neurotransmitters in neurogenesis, and we also discuss the functions of several Chinese herbs and their active molecules in activating multiple pathways involved in neurogenesis. TCM herbs target pathways such as Notch, Wnt, Sonic Hedgehog and receptor tyrosine kinase pathway, leading to activation of a signaling cascade that ultimately enhances the transcription of several important genes necessary for neurogenesis. Given these pathway activating effects, the use of TCM herbs could be an effective therapeutic strategy for the treatment of AD.
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. sravangs@hkbu.edu.hk.|Mr. & Mrs. Ko Chi-Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. sravangs@hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Sravan Gopalkrishnashetty
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Sreenivasmurthy
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. liujingyi@hkbu.edu.hk.|Mr. & Mrs. Ko Chi-Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. liujingyi@hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Jing-Yi
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. juxian.song@gmail.com.|Mr. & Mrs. Ko Chi-Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. juxian.song@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ju-Xian
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. nkyangchb@gmail.com.|Mr. & Mrs. Ko Chi-Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. nkyangchb@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Chuan-Bin
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. deepu.pharma08@gmail.com.|Mr. & Mrs. Ko Chi-Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. deepu.pharma08@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sandeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malampati
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. wangziying.12@163.com.|Mr. & Mrs. Ko Chi-Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. wangziying.12@163.com.
authors.forename: Zi-Ying
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. wongwingyu@hotmail.com.|Mr. & Mrs. Ko Chi-Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. wongwingyu@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ying-Yu
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. limin@hkbu.edu.hk.|Mr. & Mrs. Ko Chi-Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China. limin@hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D055495:Neurogenesis; D015398:Signal Transduction
keywords: Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; neurogenesis; traditional Chinese medicine