A novel drug target in Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a frequent condition in people older than 65 years, and is particularly common in the very old. 1 Lobo A Launer LJ Fratiglioni L et al. Prevalence of dementia and major subtypes in Europe: a collaborative study of population-based cohorts. Neurology. 2000; 54: S4-S9 PubMed Google Scholar The current therapeutic approaches (ie, anticholinesterases or some symptomatic drugs) are of limited use and there is a demand for potent treatments. The past two decades of Alzheimer's disease research have seen the slow but steady growth of the amyloid-cascade hypothesis, which states that a 42-aminoacid peptide (Aβ42) is an early and crucial factor in the development of Alzheimer's disease. 2 Hardy J Selkoe DJ The amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease: progress and problems on the road to therapeutics. Science. 2002; 297: 353-356 Crossref PubMed Scopus (10873) Google Scholar Knowing that Aβ42 is a proteolytic product of a large transmembrane Aβ precursor protein, researchers have raced to identify each of these proteases and target them for drug intervention. 3 Citron M Strategies for disease modification in Alzheimer's disease. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2004; 5: 677-685 Crossref PubMed Scopus (412) Google Scholar