The Biology Of Alzheimer Disease

Alzheimer disease causes the gradual deterioration of cognitive function, including severe memory loss and impairments in abstraction and reasoning. Understanding the complex changes that occur in the brain as the disease progressesincluding the accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tanglesis critical for the development of successful therapeutic approaches. Written and edited by leading experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine includes contributions covering all aspects of Alzheimer disease, from our current molecular understanding to therapeutic agents that could be used to treat and, ultimately, prevent it. Contributors discuss the biochemistry and cell biology of amyloid -protein precursor (APP), tau, presenilin, -secretase, and apolipoprotein E and their involvement in Alzheimer disease. They also review the clinical, neuropathological, imaging, and biomarker phenotypes of the disease; genetic alterations associated with the disorder; and epidemiological insights into its causation and pathogenesis. This comprehensive volume, which includes discussions of therapeutic strategies that are currently used or under development, is a vital reference for neurobiologists, cell biologists, pathologists, and other scientists pursuing the biological basis of Alzheimer disease, as well as investigators, clinicians, and students interested in its pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention.

Highlighting the latest and the most timely aspects of Alzheimer's disease research, this text will enable scientists in related research fields, as well as physicians working with Alzheimer's disease patients, to obtain a quick and complete overview of the current state of the art in one of the most exciting fields in neuroscience research. Leading scientists have contributed articles focusing on key developments in this field. This includes an overview about the pathology, the genetics of familial Alzheimer's disease, proteolytic generation and aggregation of amyloid -peptide, presenilins, risk factors such as ApoE, and transgenic animal models. Some of the latest developments in Alzheimer's disease research, including the effect of presenilin knock outs on amyloid -peptide generation, are also included.

This book examines every major aspect of Alzheimer disease at a time when there has been no scholarly research volume on the subject published in the last 3-5 years. This edition includes expanded coverage of the cellular-level exploration of related dementing disorders, with in-depth presentation of prion diseases, Pick's disease, fronto-temporal disorders, transgenic models, and biochemistry of presenilins.

As the essays in this volume show, conceptualizing dementia has always been a complex process. With contributions from noted professionals in psychiatry, neurology, molecular biology, sociology, history, ethics, and health policy, Concepts of Alzheimer Disease looks at the ways in which Alzheimer disease has been defined in various historical and cultural contexts. The book covers every major development in the field, from the first case described by Alois Alzheimer in 1907 through groundbreaking work on the genetics of the disease. Essays examine not only the prominent role that biomedical and clinical researchers have played in defining Alzheimer disease, but also the ways in which the perspectives of patients, their caregivers, and the broader public have shaped concepts.

Like the unflinching gaze of Captain Ahab walking the deck of the Pequod, Alzheimer researchers have had their sights fixed firmly on the disease for many years. Now, as this volume amply demonstrates, accomplished researchers from other fields, who have thought deeply about cell biological problems are applying their insights to Alzheimer's disease. The contri butions here represent the text versions of the proceedings from the tenth "Colloque medecine et recherche" of the Fondation IPSEN devoted to research on Alzheimer's disease. The symposium, entitled "Alzheimer's Disease: Lessons from Cell Biology" was held in Paris on April 25, 1994. As is apparent from the varied backgrounds of the contributors, the scientific pursuit of Alzheimer's disease has begun to meld with more basic disciplines, particularly cell biology. While on the one hand, new areas of specialization are continuously emerging, the boundaries of older disciplines are increas ingly blurred. Perhaps for most of the years since the first descriptions of the disease in 1907, the science of Alzheimer's disease was descriptive, and lay in the province of pathologists. This time period, during which a great deal was learned about the topography of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, culminated with an ultrastructural description of these hallmark structures. The modern era of Alzheimer's disease research opened with the iden tification of the component proteins in plaques and tangles.

How current biomarkers are modernizing the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease Expanding knowledge on genetic and epigenetic risk factors is rapidly enhancing our understanding of the complex molecular interactions and systems involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. In this publication, leading experts discuss emerging novel conceptual models of the disease along with advances in the development of surrogate markers that will not only improve the accuracy of diagnostic technologies but also improve the prospects of developing disease-modifying interventions. The novel framework of the disease presented here highlights research on biological markers as well as efforts to validate technologies for early and accurate detection. It also introduces notion of a complex systems dysfunction that extends beyond prevailing ideas derived from the amyloid' or tau' hypotheses. This outstanding publication provides researchers, clinicians, students and other professionals interested in neurodegenerative disorders with a comprehensive update on current trends and future directions in therapy development, with special focus on advances in clinical trial designs.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia in the elderly; 450,000 people in the UK and 4.5 million people in the USA suffer with this disease. This 3rd edition of Neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease gives a comprehensive and readable introduction to the disease, from molecular pathology to clinical practice. The book is intended for readers new to the field, and it also covers an extensive range of themes for those with in-depth knowledge of Alzheimer's disease. It will therefore act either as an introduction to the whole field of neurodegeneration or it will help experienced researchers to access the latest research in specialist topics. Each chapter is written by eminent scientists leading their fields in neuropathology, clinical practice and molecular neurobiology; appendices detail disease-associate proteins, their sequences, familial mutations and known structures. It will be essential reading for students interested in neurodegeneration and for researchers and clinicians, giving a coherent and cohesive approach to the whole area of research, and allowing access at different levels. For those in the pharmaceutical industry it describes the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and explains how current and potential therapeutics may work.