Current Experimental Therapy for Alzheimers Disease

Sheng      Chen; Xiao-Jie      Zhang; Liang      Li; Wei-Dong      Le

Abstract

In the past decade, enormous efforts have been devoted to understand the genetics and molecular pathogenesis of Alzheimers disease (AD), which has been transferred into extensive experimental approaches aimed at reversing disease progression. The trend in future AD therapy has been shifted from traditional anti-acetylcholinesterase treatment to multiple mechanisms-based therapy targeting amyloid plaques formation and amyloid peptides (Aβ)-mediated cytotoxicity, and neurofibrillary tangles generation. This review will cover current experimental studies with the focus on secretases-based drug development, immunotherapy, and anti-neurofibrillary tangles intervention. The outcome of these on-going studies may provide high hope that AD can be cured in the future.

Keywords: Experimental approach, Alzheimer's disease, secretase, amyloid plaque, neurofibrillary tangles, immunotherapy, small interfering molecule, gene therapy