Alzheimer’s disease(AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder. The major pathological changes in AD progression are the generation and accumulation of amyloid-beta(Aβ) peptides as well as the presence of ...Alzheimer’s disease(AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder. The major pathological changes in AD progression are the generation and accumulation of amyloid-beta(Aβ) peptides as well as the presence of abnormally hyperphosphorylated tau proteins in the brain. Autophagy is a conserved degradation pathway that eliminates abnormal protein aggregates and damaged organelles. Previous studies have suggested that autophagy plays a key role in the production and clearance of Aβ peptides to maintain a steady-state of Aβ peptides levels.However, a growing body of evidence suggests that autophagy is significantly impaired in the pathogenesis of AD, especially in Aβ metabolism. Therefore, this article reviews the latest studies concerning the mechanisms of autophagy, the metabolism of Aβ peptides, and the defective autophagy in the production and clearance of Aβpeptides. Here, we also summarize the established and new strategies for targeting autophagy in vivo and through clinical AD trials to identify gaps in our knowledge and to generate further questions.展开更多
基金supported by the Construction Project of Capacity Improvement Plan for Chongqing Municipal Health Commission affiliated unit (2019NLTS001)-ZS03174operating grant to Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Diseases (Grant No. 1000013)+2 种基金Chongqing Talent Project [2000062]Overseas Students entrepreneurial fund (Grant No. 2000079)Plan for High-level Talent Introduction (Grant No. 2000055)。
文摘Alzheimer’s disease(AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder. The major pathological changes in AD progression are the generation and accumulation of amyloid-beta(Aβ) peptides as well as the presence of abnormally hyperphosphorylated tau proteins in the brain. Autophagy is a conserved degradation pathway that eliminates abnormal protein aggregates and damaged organelles. Previous studies have suggested that autophagy plays a key role in the production and clearance of Aβ peptides to maintain a steady-state of Aβ peptides levels.However, a growing body of evidence suggests that autophagy is significantly impaired in the pathogenesis of AD, especially in Aβ metabolism. Therefore, this article reviews the latest studies concerning the mechanisms of autophagy, the metabolism of Aβ peptides, and the defective autophagy in the production and clearance of Aβpeptides. Here, we also summarize the established and new strategies for targeting autophagy in vivo and through clinical AD trials to identify gaps in our knowledge and to generate further questions.