Interactions of metals and Apolipoprotein E in Alzheimer's disease.

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Xu H, Finkelstein DI, Adlard PA

Interactions of metals and Apolipoprotein E in Alzheimer's disease.

Front Aging Neurosci. 2014 Jun 12;6:121. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2014.00121. eCollection 2014.

PubMed ID

24971061 [ View in PubMed

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Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, which is characterized by the neuropathological accumulation of extracellular amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Clinically, patients will endure a gradual erosion of memory and other higher order cognitive functions. Whilst the underlying etiology of the disease remains to be definitively identified, a body of work has developed over the last two decades demonstrating that AD plasma/serum and brain are characterized by a dyshomeostasis in a number of metal ions. Furthermore, these metals (such as zinc, copper and iron) play roles in the regulation of the levels of AD-related proteins, including the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and tau. It is becoming apparent that metals also interact with other proteins, including apolipoprotein E (ApoE). The Apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) is critically associated with AD, with APOE4 representing the strongest genetic risk factor for the development of late-onset AD. In this review we will summarize the evidence supporting a role for metals in the function of ApoE and its consequent role in the pathogenesis of AD.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drug Targets

Drug	Target	Kind	Organism	Pharmacological Action	Actions
Copper	Apolipoprotein E	Protein	Humans	Unknown	Not Available	Details