ABCA7 gene as a potential therapeutic target in the management of Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

ABCA7 is a gene that belong to the family of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter gene superfamily. Based on their structure and sequence homology, ABC transporters are divided into seven sub families. Asides from its function in lipid transport, high levels of ABCA7 is expressed in the hippocampus and has been identified with Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk. Over time, research has been done to identify therapeutic targets in the management of Alzheimer's disease.A literature search on ABCA7 and therapeutic targets was carried out through the PubMed database. The exclusion and inclusion criteria were used to achieve reliable and accurate results.Using the string "ABCA7 AND Alzheimer's", 197 results were obtained from the search as at January 24th , 2021. The search was narrowed down by using the string "ABCA7 AND Therapeutic targets". The 2nd search yielded 17 results after which some papers were excluded. Findings revealed that 10 (59%) out of 17 papers obtained from the search associated ABCA7 with late-onset AD risk. This indicate the relevance of ABCA7 in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Out of the 10 papers studied, 5 (50%) included ABCA7 gene in studies pertaining to therapeutic targets in Alzheimer's disease. This shows that ABCA7 is considered a therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease.Despite the progress made so far, more work still needs to be done to validate ABCA7 gene as a therapeutic tool in AD management. It is hoped that this review will encourage more research in this aspect of Alzheimer's disease management.