Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093-0624, USA.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2013;33 Suppl 1:S185-94. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2012-129028.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive memory deficits and other cognitive disturbances. Neuropathologically, AD is characterized by the progressive loss of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons that innervate the hippocampus and cortex and the abnormal extracellular accumulation of amyloid-β and intracellular tau protein. Current research on AD is focused on the mechanisms underlying the abnormal oligomerization, fibrillation, and accumulation of the amyloid-β and tau proteins, mechanisms that may alter the dynamics of this accumulation and on experimental therapeutics approaches aimed at the clearance of the abnormally folded proteins and other potentially neuroprotective interventions. This review will summarize the main areas of investigation in AD and present ways forward for future work.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）是一种与年龄相关的神经退行性疾病，其特征是进行性记忆障碍和其他认知障碍。神经病理学上，AD 的特征是基底前脑胆碱能神经元逐渐丧失，这些神经元支配海马体和大脑皮层，以及异常的淀粉样β和细胞内 tau 蛋白的细胞外积累。目前对 AD 的研究集中在淀粉样β和 tau 蛋白异常寡聚、纤维化和积累的机制上，这些机制可能改变这种积累的动态，并探讨实验治疗方法，旨在清除异常折叠的蛋白质和其他潜在的神经保护干预措施。这篇综述将总结 AD 的主要研究领域，并为未来的工作提出方向。
