Linking lipids to Alzheimer's disease: cholesterol and beyond

Top Cited Papers
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Dysregulation of lipid pathways has been implicated in a growing number of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. Lipids control many aspects that are relevant for Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis: these include the trafficking and processing of amyloid precursor protein, the synaptotoxic signalling of amyloid-β and tau pathology. Although the link between cholesterol metabolism and Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis is well-established, recent studies suggest that other lipid families, such as phospholipids, play a key part in Alzheimer's disease-linked synaptic dysfunction. As regulators of lipid metabolism, such as statins, are successful classes of marketed drugs, identification of novel regulators of lipid pathways involved in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis may offer new avenues for the treatment of this devastating disorder. Mass spectrometry-based techniques are powerful tools to analyse the 'lipidome' of brain regions affected by Alzheimer's disease, either in humans or in genetic models. These approaches can uncover lipid pathways that are dysregulated in Alzheimer's disease, as well as novel biomarkers for this disorder.

This publication has 151 references indexed in Scilit: