From Small Peptides to Large Proteins against Alzheimer'sDisease

Biomolecules. 2022 Sep 22;12(10):1344. doi: 10.3390/biom12101344.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly. The two cardinal neuropathological hallmarks of AD are the senile plaques, which are extracellular deposits mainly constituted by beta-amyloids, and neurofibrillary tangles formed by abnormally phosphorylated Tau (p-Tau) located in the cytoplasm of neurons. Although the research has made relevant progress in the management of the disease, the treatment is still lacking. Only symptomatic medications exist for the disease, and, in the meantime, laboratories worldwide are investigating disease-modifying treatments for AD. In the present review, results centered on the use of peptides of different sizes involved in AD are presented.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Tau protein; amyloid-beta protein: amyloid fibrillation; neurofibrillary tangles.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alzheimer Disease* / metabolism
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Neurofibrillary Tangles / metabolism
  • Neurofibrillary Tangles / pathology
  • Neurons / metabolism
  • Plaque, Amyloid / metabolism
  • Plaque, Amyloid / pathology
  • tau Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • tau Proteins
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides

Grants and funding

This research has been performed within the Horizon-Euratom-2021-NRT-01-11 project: “RADiation harvesting of bioactive peptides from egg prOteins and their integration in adVanced functional products—RADOV”—Project ID: 101061694.