Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Atefeh Afsar, Maria del Carmen Chacon Castro, Adedamola Saidi Soladogun, Li Zhang
Summary: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid beta plaque deposition, and neurodegeneration. Genetic mutations, inflammation, blood-brain barrier impairment, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and metal ion imbalance are associated with AD progression. Recent studies have shown a link between altered heme metabolism and AD. Understanding the underlying mechanisms and identifying therapeutic targets is crucial for AD drug development. This review discusses common alterations in AD, potential therapeutic targets, mathematical models, and treatment strategies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ewa Baczynska, Katarzyna Karolina Pels, Subhadip Basu, Jakub Wlodarczyk, Blazej Ruszczycki
Summary: This article reviews experimental approaches designed to assess quantitative features of dendritic spines under physiological stimuli and in pathological conditions. By comparing various methodological pipelines and systematically summarizing the methodology and results of relevant experiments, the focus is on quantitative data regarding the number of animals, cells, dendritic spines, types of studied parameters, size of observed changes, and their statistical significance.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Neurosciences
Moxin Wu, Manqing Zhang, Xiaoping Yin, Kai Chen, Zhijian Hu, Qin Zhou, Xianming Cao, Zhiying Chen, Dan Liu
Summary: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive decline, with synaptic dysfunction recognized as the main cause of cognitive impairments. Pathological tau is suggested to induce synaptic dysfunction in various ways, contributing to cognitive decline in AD. Exploring the mechanism by which pathological tau impairs synaptic function is crucial for developing novel therapeutic strategies for AD.
TRANSLATIONAL NEURODEGENERATION
(2021)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
David Colameo, Gerhard Schratt
Summary: This article investigates the plasticity mechanisms of neurons in the face of network activity disruptions. The study reveals that individual synapses are tagged for future strengthening during periods of chronic inactivity. These findings support the role of local mechanisms in homeostatic synaptic plasticity.
Article
Neurosciences
Charlotte S. Bold, Danny Baltissen, Susann Ludewig, Michaela K. Back, Jennifer Just, Lara Kilian, Susanne Erdinger, Marija Banicevic, Lena Rehra, Fadi Almouhanna, Martina Nigri, David P. Wolfer, Roman Spilger, Karl Rohr, Oliver Kann, Christian J. Buchholz, Jakob von Engelhardt, Martin Korte, Ulrike C. Muller
Summary: The study reveals the therapeutic potential of APPs alpha in mitigating Tau-induced synaptic deficits. Additionally, loss of interneurons leads to disrupted neuronal circuits, compromising synaptic plasticity and behavior.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jing Dong, Hui Fu, Yuanyuan Fu, Mingdan You, Xudong Li, Chaonan Wang, Kunkun Leng, Yuan Wang, Jie Chen
Summary: Exposure to DEHP during pregnancy can impair hippocampal synaptic plasticity in male offspring, affecting synaptic structure and dendritic spine development, possibly through the downregulation of the Rac1/PAK/LIMK1/cofilin signaling pathway. Female offspring did not show these alterations in hippocampal structure.
ACS CHEMICAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yi-Hsuan Wu, Hsi-Lung Hsieh
Summary: The heme oxygenase system, particularly HO-1 and HO-2, plays an important role in the nervous system. Dysregulation of HO-1 is associated with neurodegenerative diseases.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xingfeng Liu, Site Li, Wenyu Zhang, Zhuo Xie, Jingxin He, Xuanwei Zhang, Shouyang Yu, Song Cao, Tian Yu, Zhi Xiao
Summary: Repetitive noxious stimuli in neonates have long-term harmful effects on nociceptive processing, learning, and memory. Plasticity-related gene 1 (PRG-1) regulates synaptic plasticity and functional reorganization in the brain. This study shows that neonatal repetitive noxious stimuli lead to hyperalgesia, allodynia, and impairments in learning and memory, which are associated with the interaction between PRG-1 and N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion protein (NSF), enhanced glutamate release, and deficiency in AMPAR GluR2 trafficking.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Santiago Rodriguez Ospina, Danielle M. Blazier, Marangelie Criado-Marrero, Lauren A. Gould, Niat T. Gebru, David Beaulieu-Abdelahad, Xinming Wang, Elizabeth Remily-Wood, Dale Chaput, Stanley Stevens, Vladimir N. Uversky, Paula C. Bickford, Chad A. Dickey, Laura J. Blair
Summary: The study found that overexpression of Hsp22 can protect synaptic plasticity and cognition in tauopathic brains, without significantly altering tau phosphorylation levels. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed that Hsp22 overexpression in neurons promotes synaptic plasticity by regulating canonical pathways and upstream regulators related to potential AD markers and synaptogenesis regulators.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Guang-ying Li, Qiu-zi Wu, Tian-jia Song, Xue-chu Zhen, Xiang Yu
Summary: Normal brain function relies on the complex neural network, which is formed and maintained through synaptogenesis and synaptic plasticity. Deficiency in growth hormone can lead to brain development abnormalities and impair learning and memory, while growth hormone replacement therapy has been shown to ameliorate cognitive deficits. However, the underlying mechanism is still largely unknown.
ACTA PHARMACOLOGICA SINICA
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Balaganesh Kuruba, Nickolas Starks, Mary Rose Josten, Ori Naveh, Gary Wayman, Marina Mikhaylova, Alla S. Kostyukova
Summary: Dendritic spines, actin-rich protrusions that receive signals from axons at synapses, are affected by remodeling of cytoskeletal actin. Tropomodulin 2 (Tmod2), a brain-specific isoform, plays a role in regulating dendritic spine re-organization by binding to the pointed end of actin filaments through actin and tropomyosin binding sites. Overexpression of Tmod2 decreases spine number and increases spine length, and disrupting its binding abilities affects spine motility and stability.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Binita Rajbanshi, Anuj Guruacharya, James W. Mandell, George S. Bloom
Summary: Tau phosphorylation at T217 increases as Alzheimer's disease progresses and is associated with diseased neurons. Extracellular tau oligomers can induce an increase in tau(pT217). Phosphorylation reduces tau's affinity for microtubules.
ALZHEIMERS & DEMENTIA
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jianqi Zhao, Yin Chen, Tainong Xiong, Songling Han, Chenwenya Li, Yingjuan He, Yongwu He, Gaomei Zhao, Tao Wang, Liting Wang, Tianmin Cheng, Cheng Wang, Junping Wang
Summary: In this study, an anticancer regimen that increases intratumoral cobalt (Co) levels through targeted nanomaterial delivery is proposed. Cobaltous oxide nanodots are prepared using a facile biomineralization strategy with bovine serum albumin and cobalt dichloride. After iRGD peptide conjugation, the nanodots are loaded into dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles to generate a biocompatible product iCoDMSN. This versatile nanocomposite accumulates in tumors and acts as an efficient radiotherapy enhancer by priming ferroptosis.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Monika Jozsa, Tihol Ivanov Donchev, Rodolphe Sepulchre, Timothy O'Leary
Summary: Research has shown that a self-regulating signaling motif can generate reliable size-regulated switches by exploiting the breakdown of mass-action kinetics in chemical reaction systems. In synaptic and other small compartments, fluctuations are large due to low copy numbers of species, leading to a different behavior than typical mass-action kinetics.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Review
Neurosciences
Grant A. Krafft, Jasna Jerecic, Eric Siemers, Erika N. Cline
Summary: Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease with devastating impacts on patients and families, and current treatments have limited effectiveness. Research has shown a clear link between Alzheimer's disease and elevated levels of amyloid beta in the brain, prompting a search for targeted therapies.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)