Abstract::
Recent studies have proven that the purinergic signaling pathway plays a key role in neurotransmission and
neuromodulation, and is involved in various neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders. With the characterization
of the subtypes of receptors in purinergic signaling, i.e. the P1 (adenosine), P2X (ion channel) and P2Y (G protein-coupled),
more attentions were paid to the pathophysiology and therapeutic potential of purinergic signaling in central nervous system
disorders. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive and deadly neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by memory
loss, cognitive impairment and dementia. However, as drug development aimed to prevent or control AD follows a series
of failures in recent years, more researchers focused on the neuroprotection-related mechanisms such as purinergic signaling
in AD patients to find a potential cure. This article reviews the recent discoveries of purinergic signaling in AD, summaries
the potential agents as modulators for the receptors of purinergic signaling in AD related research and treatments. Thus, our
paper provided an insight for purinergic signaling in the development of anti-AD therapies.
Characterization of monomeric and soluble aggregated Aβ in Down’s syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease brains