OBJECTIVE The examination of individuals who carry fully penetrant genetic alterations that result in familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) provides a unique model for studying the early presymptomatic disease stages. In AD, deficits in episodic and associative memory have been linked to structural and functional changes within the hippocampal system. This study used functional MRI (fMRI) to exami...

Transgenic mice are used to model increased brain amyloid(A ) and amyloid plaque formation reflecting Alzheimer’s disease athology. In our study hippocampal network oscillations, population spikes, and long-term potentiation (LTP) were recorded in APPswe/ S1dE9 (APP/PS1) and presenilin1 (PS1) transgenic and wild type mice at 2, 4, and 8 months of age under urethane anesthesia. ippocampal theta ...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common human neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive deterioration of cognition and memory. Acupuncture at the Baihui (DU20) acupoint has long been used in China to clinically treat cognitive impairment. However, the precise mechanism underlying its neuroprotective effects remains to be elucidated. In the present study, electroacupuncture (EA) at th...

BACKGROUND At least half of all cases of early onset (<60) familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) are caused by any of over 150 mutations in three genes: the amyloid precursor protein (APP), presenilin 1 (PS1), and presenilin 2 (PS2). Mutant forms of PS1 have been shown to sensitize cells to apoptotic cell death. OBJECTIVE We investigated the effects of hypocapnia, a risk factor for both cognitiv...

We synthesized three 20 mer caged circular antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (R20, R20B2 and R20B4) with a photocleavable linker and an amide bond linker between two 10 mer oligodeoxynucleotides. With these caged circular antisense oligodeoxynucleotides, RNA-binding affinity and its digestion by ribonuclease H were readily photomodulated. RNA cleavage rates were upregulated ~43-, 25- and 15-fold ...

AIMS Alzheimer's disease (AD), a progressive development dementia, is increasingly impacting patients' living conditions worldwide. Despite medical care and funding support, there are still no highly individualized drugs and practical strategies for clinical prevention and treatment. Developmentally regulated brain protein (abbreviated as Drebrin or Dbn, also known as Dbn1 in mouse) exists in n...

Type 2 diabetes is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, most likely linked to an impairment of insulin signaling in the brain. The incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) facilitates insulin signaling, and novel long-lasting GLP-1 analogs, such as liraglutide, are on the market as diabetes therapeutics. GLP-1 has been shown to have neuroprotective properties in vitro and in vivo. Her...

In the brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, neurotoxic amyloid peptides accumulate and are deposited as senile plaques. A major therapeutic strategy aims to decrease production of amyloid peptides by inhibition of gamma-secretase. Presenilins are polytopic transmembrane proteins that are essential for gamma-secretase activity during development and in amyloid production. By loxP/Cre-reco...

gamma-Secretase is a multisubunit membrane protein complex consisting of presenilin (PS1), nicastrin (NCT), anterior pharynx-1, and presenilin enhancer 2. To analyze the activity of familial Alzheimer disease mutants and to understand the roles of the subunits, we established a yeast transcriptional activator Gal4p system with artificial gamma-secretase substrates containing amyloid precursor p...

Neuronal pentraxin receptor (NPR) is a synaptic protein implicated in AMPA receptor trafficking at excitatory synapses. Since glutamate neurotransmission is disrupted in Alzheimer's disease (AD), NPR levels measured from plasma represent a potential biomarker for synaptic dysfunction associated with AD. We sought to determine the relationship between AD pathology and brain and plasma NPR levels...