TY - JOUR
T1 - Wnt signaling function in Alzheimer's disease
AU - De Ferrari and, Giancarlo V.
AU - Inestrosa, Nibaldo C.
N1 - Funding Information:
N.C.I. is recipient of a Presidential Chair in Science from the Chilean Government. This work was supported by grants FONDECYT N° 1971240 and FONDAP N° 13980001 to N.C.I. and FONDECYT N° 2970073 to G.V.D.
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease with progressive dementia accompanied by three main structural changes in the brain: diffuse loss of neurons; intracellular protein deposits termed neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and extracellular protein deposits termed amyloid or senile plaques, surrounded by dystrophic neurites. Two major hypotheses have been proposed in order to explain the molecular hallmarks of the disease: The 'amyloid cascade' hypothesis and the 'neuronal cytoskeletal degeneration' hypothesis. While the former is supported by genetic studies of the early- onset familial forms of AD (FAD), the latter revolves around the observation in vivo that cytoskeletal changes - including the abnormal phosphorylation state of the microtubule associated protein tau - may precede the deposition of senile plaques. Recent studies have suggested that the trafficking process of membrane associated proteins is modulated by the FAD-linked presenilin (PS) proteins, and that amyloid β-peptide deposition may be initiated intracellularly, through the secretory pathway. Current hypotheses concerning presenilin function are based upon its cellular localization and its putative interaction as macromolecular complexes with the cell-adhesion/signaling β- catenin molecule and the glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) enzyme. Developmental studies have shown that PS proteins function as components in the Notch signal transduction cascade and that β-catenin and GSK-3β are transducers of the Wnt signaling pathway. Both pathways are thought to have an important role in brain development, and they have been connected through Dishevelled (Dvl) protein, a known transducer of the Wnt pathway. In addition to a review of the current state of research on the subject, we present a cell signaling model in which a sustained loss of function of Wnt signaling components would trigger a series of misrecognition events, determining the onset and development of AD. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.
AB - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease with progressive dementia accompanied by three main structural changes in the brain: diffuse loss of neurons; intracellular protein deposits termed neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and extracellular protein deposits termed amyloid or senile plaques, surrounded by dystrophic neurites. Two major hypotheses have been proposed in order to explain the molecular hallmarks of the disease: The 'amyloid cascade' hypothesis and the 'neuronal cytoskeletal degeneration' hypothesis. While the former is supported by genetic studies of the early- onset familial forms of AD (FAD), the latter revolves around the observation in vivo that cytoskeletal changes - including the abnormal phosphorylation state of the microtubule associated protein tau - may precede the deposition of senile plaques. Recent studies have suggested that the trafficking process of membrane associated proteins is modulated by the FAD-linked presenilin (PS) proteins, and that amyloid β-peptide deposition may be initiated intracellularly, through the secretory pathway. Current hypotheses concerning presenilin function are based upon its cellular localization and its putative interaction as macromolecular complexes with the cell-adhesion/signaling β- catenin molecule and the glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) enzyme. Developmental studies have shown that PS proteins function as components in the Notch signal transduction cascade and that β-catenin and GSK-3β are transducers of the Wnt signaling pathway. Both pathways are thought to have an important role in brain development, and they have been connected through Dishevelled (Dvl) protein, a known transducer of the Wnt pathway. In addition to a review of the current state of research on the subject, we present a cell signaling model in which a sustained loss of function of Wnt signaling components would trigger a series of misrecognition events, determining the onset and development of AD. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.
KW - Alzheimer's disease
KW - Cytoskeletal change
KW - Neuronal degeneration
KW - Wnt signal transduction pathway
KW - β-amyloid
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033850796&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0165-0173(00)00021-7
DO - 10.1016/S0165-0173(00)00021-7
M3 - Review article
C2 - 10967351
AN - SCOPUS:0033850796
SN - 0165-0173
VL - 33
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Brain Research Reviews
JF - Brain Research Reviews
IS - 1
ER -