Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and the Potential Possibility of their Neutralization

Abstract

Different protein forms inevitably load up in the cell under the influence of external and internal factors. With aging, the activity of chaperones and other components of the cell protein quality control machinery decreases. This results in accumulation of misfolded proteins with altered conformation. The most drastic alteration is the conversion of the active soluble molecules to the insoluble and inactive amyloid. Such a conformation shift of proteins is considered to lie behind the neurodegeneration process. A number of studies are devoted to neurodegeneration, but many details of the process still need to be clarified. In this review we outline some modern views on molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of the most widespread Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases. These are based on a series of interactions between Abeta and alfa-synuclein and membrane receptors and are modulated by phase separation and cross-seeding with other cell prions. Special attention is paid to natural polyfunctional compounds as promising therapeutic agents.