Summary

Neurodegeneration refers to the progressive loss of neuron structure or function, which may eventually lead to cell death. Many neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and prion disease, are the results of neurodegenerative processes. Neurodegeneration can be found in many different levels of neuronal circuits in the brain, from molecules to systems. Since there is no known method to reverse the progressive degeneration of neurons, these diseases are considered incurable. Biomedical research has revealed many similarities between these diseases at the subcellular level, including atypical protein assembly (such as protein diseases) and induction of cell death. These similarities indicate that progress in the treatment of one neurodegenerative disease may also improve other diseases. This collection of entries aims to collect various medical research results related to neurodegeneration. We invite researchers to share their new results and ideas related to neurodegeneration.

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Entries
Topic Review
Chronic Rhinosinusitis and Alzheimer’s Disease
Among millions of sufferers of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), the challenge is not only constantly coping with CRS-related symptoms, such as congested nose, sinus pain, and headaches, but also various complications, such as attention difficulties and possible depression. These complications suggest that neural activity in the central nervous system may be altered in those patients, leading to unexpected conditions, such as neurodegeneration in elderly patients. 
  • 879
  • 26 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Cytokines and Growth Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most prominent neurodegenerative diseases, which impairs cognitive function in afflicted individuals. AD results in gradual decay of neuronal function as a consequence of diverse degenerating events. Several neuroimmune players (such as cytokines and growth factors that are key players in maintaining CNS homeostasis) turn aberrant during crosstalk between the innate and adaptive immunities. This aberrance underlies neuroinflammation and drives neuronal cells toward apoptotic decline. Neuroinflammation involves microglial activation and has been shown to exacerbate AD. Cytokines are non-structural proteins within the molecular weight range of 8000–40,000 Da. They can be described as inflammatory peptides aiding the immune defense response. The majority of nucleated cells are capable of synthesizing cytokines but they are predominantly produced by macrophages/microglia and lymphocytes.
  • 581
  • 26 Oct 2021
Topic Review
CNSL as a Source of Alzheimer's Drug Leads
Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), a natural oil and a byproduct of cashew nut food processing, with a high content of phenolic lipids. The rational modification of their structures has emerged as a successful medicinal chemistry approach to the development of novel anti-AD lead candidates. The biological profile of the newly developed CNSL derivatives towards validated AD targets will be discussed together with the role of these molecular targets in the context of AD pathogenesis.
  • 861
  • 26 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Dietary Polyphenols to Target Alzheimer’s Disease
Dietary polyphenols may provide various levels of protection for neuronal health.  This entry extensively examines this topic tabulating the in vivo and in vitro studies that have been performed, the methods used, the doses and duration of treatments, and most importantly the outcomes.  The entry can be particularly useful as a reference and for those embarking on studies to further exploit dietary polyphenols for protection against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease.
  • 633
  • 21 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Cofilin and Actin Dynamics
Proteins of the actin depolymerizing factor (ADF)/cofilin family are ubiquitous among eukaryotes and are essential regulators of actin dynamics and function. Mammalian neurons express cofilin-1 as the major isoform, but ADF and cofilin-2 are also expressed. All isoforms bind preferentially and cooperatively along ADP-subunits in F-actin, affecting the filament helical rotation, and when either alone or when enhanced by other proteins, promotes filament severing and subunit turnover.
  • 1.2K
  • 25 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Polymorphism in α-Synuclein
The synucleinopathies exhibit differences in their clinical and pathological representations, reminiscent of prion disorders. Emerging evidence suggests that α-Syn self-assembles and polymerizes into conformationally diverse polymorphs in vitro and in vivo, similar to prions. These α-Syn polymorphs arising from the same precursor protein may exhibit strain-specific biochemical properties and the ability to induce distinct pathological phenotypes upon their inoculation in animal models.
  • 628
  • 20 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Human stem cell implantation in Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive debilitating neurodegenerative disease and the most common form of dementia in the older population. At present, there is no definitive effective treatment for AD. Therefore, researchers are now looking at stem cell therapy as a possible treatment for AD, but whether stem cells are safe and effective in humans is still not clear. In this narrative review, we discuss both preclinical studies and clinical trials on the therapeutic potential of human stem cells in AD. Preclinical studies have successfully differentiated stem cells into neurons in vitro, indicating the potential viability of stem cell therapy in neurodegenerative diseases. Preclinical studies have also shown that stem cell therapy is safe and effective in improving cognitive performance in animal models, as demonstrated in the Morris water maze test and novel object recognition test. Although few clinical trials have been completed and many trials are still in phase I and II, the initial results confirm the outcomes of the preclinical studies. However, limitations like rejection, tumorigenicity and ethical issues are still barriers to the advancement of stem cell therapy. In conclusion, the use of stem cells in the treatment of AD shows promise in terms of effectiveness and safety.
  • 495
  • 15 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Remote Assessment in Multiple Sclerosis
The provision and adoption of technological solutions and the sharing of information globally has the potential to drive knowledge acquisition and positively affect healthcare worldwide. Digital solutions offer great promise in delivering increasingly individualised, easily accessible, and effective healthcare, with the capacity to evolve with time and adapt to the changing needs of people living with MS (PLwMS) and health care providers (HCPs). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has given additional proof of such versatility and usefulness, highlighting how barriers can be overcome through the adoption of digital tools, where capturing digital data remotely may mean that symptom tracking can be maintained even when clinic visits are not possible.
  • 813
  • 07 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Vitamin E in Neuro-Nutrition
Vitamin E was first discovered by the American endocrinologist and anatomist Herbert. M. Evans, together with his assistant Katherine S. Bishop. The isolated substance, later termed vitamin E, describes a group of compounds consisting of four tocopherol (TP)- and four tocotrienol (TT)-derivatives.
  • 890
  • 27 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Sensory Neurons
Four sensory systems (vestibular, lateral line, electroreception, auditory) are unique and project exclusively to the brainstem of vertebrates. All sensory neurons depend on a common set of genes (Eya1, Sox2, Neurog1, Neurod1) that project to a dorsal nucleus and an intermediate nucleus, which differentiate into the vestibular ear, lateral line and electroreception in vertebrates. 
  • 1.3K
  • 23 Sep 2021
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