Human Molecular Genetics and Stem Cell Laboratory, Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Department of Zoology, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Acta Neuropsychiatr. 2020 Apr;32(2):65-71. doi: 10.1017/neu.2019.39. Epub 2019 Dec 26.
Alzheimer's disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disorder, is the leading cause of dementia in the world whose aetiology is still unclear. AD was always related to ageing though there have been instances where people at an early age also succumb to this disease. With medical advancements, the mortality rate has significantly reduced which also makes people more prone to AD. AD is rare, yet the prominent disease has been widely studied with several hypotheses trying to understand the workings of its onset. The most recent and popular hypothesis in AD is the involvement of mitochondrial dysfunction and calcium homeostasis in the development of the disease though their exact roles are not known. With the sudden advent of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU), many previously known pathological hallmarks of AD may be better understood. Several studies have shown the effect of excess calcium in mitochondria and the influence of MCU complex in mitochondrial function. In this article, we discuss the possible involvement of MCU in AD by linking the uniporter to mitochondrial dysfunction, calcium homeostasis, reactive oxygen species, neurotransmitters and the hallmarks of AD - amyloid plaque formation and tau tangle formation.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）是一种神经退行性疾病，是世界上导致痴呆的主要原因，其病因仍不清楚。尽管有些人在年轻时也会患上这种疾病，但 AD 一直与衰老有关。随着医学的进步，死亡率显著降低，这也使人们更容易患上 AD。AD 虽然罕见，但这种突出的疾病已经得到了广泛的研究，有几个假说试图了解其发病机制。AD 中最新和流行的假说涉及线粒体功能障碍和钙稳态在疾病发展中的作用，尽管其确切作用尚不清楚。随着线粒体钙单向转运体（MCU）的突然出现，以前已知的 AD 的许多病理特征可能会得到更好的理解。几项研究表明，线粒体中过量钙的作用以及 MCU 复合物对线粒体功能的影响。在本文中，我们通过将单向转运体与线粒体功能障碍、钙稳态、活性氧、神经递质以及 AD 的特征——淀粉样斑块形成和tau 缠结联系起来，讨论了 MCU 参与 AD 的可能性。
