scholarly journals DNA Methylation: A Promising Approach in Management of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Disorders

Biology ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Gagandeep Kaur ◽  
Suraj Singh S. Rathod ◽  
Mohammed M. Ghoneim ◽  
Sultan Alshehri ◽  
Javed Ahmad ◽  
...  

DNA methylation, in the mammalian genome, is an epigenetic modification that involves the transfer of a methyl group on the C5 position of cytosine to derive 5-methylcytosine. The role of DNA methylation in the development of the nervous system and the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease has been an interesting research area. Furthermore, mutations altering DNA methylation affect neurodevelopmental functions and may cause the progression of several neurodegenerative diseases. Epigenetic modifications in neurodegenerative diseases are widely studied in different populations to uncover the plausible mechanisms contributing to the development and progression of the disease and detect novel biomarkers for early prognosis and future pharmacotherapeutic targets. In this manuscript, we summarize the association of DNA methylation with the pathogenesis of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, such as, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington diseases, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and discuss the potential of DNA methylation as a potential biomarker and therapeutic tool for neurogenerative diseases.

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Kook Kim ◽  
Juhyun Song

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in diverse physiological and pathological processes by modulating gene expression. They have been found to be dysregulated in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with neurodegenerative diseases, and are considered promising therapeutic targets for treatment. Among the various neurodegenerative diseases, diabetic Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been recently emerging as an important issue due to several unexpected reports suggesting that metabolic issues in the brain, such as insulin resistance and glucose dysregulation, could be important risk factors for AD. To facilitate understanding of the role of lncRNAs in this field, here we review recent studies on lncRNAs in AD and diabetes, and summarize them with different categories associated with the pathogenesis of the diseases including neurogenesis, synaptic dysfunction, amyloid beta accumulation, neuroinflammation, insulin resistance, and glucose dysregulation. It is essential to understand the role of lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of diabetic AD from various perspectives for therapeutic utilization of lncRNAs in the near future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Siddhartha Mondragón-Rodríguez ◽  
Humberto Salgado-Burgos ◽  
Fernando Peña-Ortega

For more than five decades, the field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has focused on two main hypotheses positing amyloid-beta (Aβ) and Tau phosphorylation (pTau) as key pathogenic mediators. In line with these canonical hypotheses, several groups around the world have shown that the synaptotoxicity in AD depends mainly on the increase in pTau levels. Confronting this leading hypothesis, a few years ago, we reported that the increase in phosphorylation levels of dendritic Tau, at its microtubule domain (MD), acts as a neuroprotective mechanism that prevents N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAr) overexcitation, which allowed us to propose that Tau protein phosphorylated near MD sites is involved in neuroprotection, rather than in neurodegeneration. Further supporting this alternative role of pTau, we have recently shown that early increases in pTau close to MD sites prevent hippocampal circuit overexcitation in a transgenic AD mouse model. Here, we will synthesize this new evidence that confronts the leading Tau-based AD hypothesis and discuss the role of pTau modulating neural circuits and network connectivity. Additionally, we will briefly address the role of brain circuit alterations as a potential biomarker for detecting the prodromal AD stage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 6739
Author(s):  
Sharmeelavathi Krishnan ◽  
Yasaswi Shrestha ◽  
Dona P. W. Jayatunga ◽  
Sarah Rea ◽  
Ralph Martins ◽  
...  

Neurodegenerative diseases result in a range of conditions depending on the type of proteinopathy, genes affected or the location of the degeneration in the brain. Proteinopathies such as senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain are prominent features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Autophagy is a highly regulated mechanism of eliminating dysfunctional organelles and proteins, and plays an important role in removing these pathogenic intracellular protein aggregates, not only in AD, but also in other neurodegenerative diseases. Activating autophagy is gaining interest as a potential therapeutic strategy for chronic diseases featuring protein aggregation and misfolding, including AD. Although autophagy activation is a promising intervention, over-activation of autophagy in neurodegenerative diseases that display impaired lysosomal clearance may accelerate pathology, suggesting that the success of any autophagy-based intervention is dependent on lysosomal clearance being functional. Additionally, the effects of autophagy activation may vary significantly depending on the physiological state of the cell, especially during proteotoxic stress and ageing. Growing evidence seems to favour a strategy of enhancing the efficacy of autophagy by preventing or reversing the impairments of the specific processes that are disrupted. Therefore, it is essential to understand the underlying causes of the autophagy defect in different neurodegenerative diseases to explore possible therapeutic approaches. This review will focus on the role of autophagy during stress and ageing, consequences that are linked to its activation and caveats in modulating this pathway as a treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (22) ◽  
pp. 8767
Author(s):  
Nicole Jacqueline Jensen ◽  
Helena Zander Wodschow ◽  
Malin Nilsson ◽  
Jørgen Rungby

Under normal physiological conditions the brain primarily utilizes glucose for ATP generation. However, in situations where glucose is sparse, e.g., during prolonged fasting, ketone bodies become an important energy source for the brain. The brain’s utilization of ketones seems to depend mainly on the concentration in the blood, thus many dietary approaches such as ketogenic diets, ingestion of ketogenic medium-chain fatty acids or exogenous ketones, facilitate significant changes in the brain’s metabolism. Therefore, these approaches may ameliorate the energy crisis in neurodegenerative diseases, which are characterized by a deterioration of the brain’s glucose metabolism, providing a therapeutic advantage in these diseases. Most clinical studies examining the neuroprotective role of ketone bodies have been conducted in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, where brain imaging studies support the notion of enhancing brain energy metabolism with ketones. Likewise, a few studies show modest functional improvements in patients with Parkinson’s disease and cognitive benefits in patients with—or at risk of—Alzheimer’s disease after ketogenic interventions. Here, we summarize current knowledge on how ketogenic interventions support brain metabolism and discuss the therapeutic role of ketones in neurodegenerative disease, emphasizing clinical data.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Dong ◽  
Jialu Li ◽  
Lei Huang ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Donghai Li ◽  
...  

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, and promptly diagnosis of AD is crucial for delaying the development of disease and improving patient quality of life. However, AD detection, particularly in the early stages, remains a substantial challenge due to the lack of specific biomarkers. The present study was undertaken to identify and validate the potential of circulating miRNAs as novel biomarkers for AD. Solexa sequencing was employed to screen the expression profile of serum miRNAs in AD and controls. RT-qPCR was used to confirm the altered miRNAs at the individual level. Moreover, candidate miRNAs were examined in the serum samples of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and vascular dementia (VD). The results showed that four miRNAs (miR-31, miR-93, miR-143, and miR-146a) were markedly decreased in AD patients’ serum compared with controls. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that this panel of four miRNAs could be used as potential biomarker for AD. Furthermore, miR-93, and miR-146a were significantly elevated in MCI compared with controls, and the panel of miR-31, miR-93 and miR-146a can be used to discriminate AD from VD. We established a panel of four serum miRNAs as a novel noninvasive biomarker for AD diagnosis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuyuki Kobayashi ◽  
Shunichiro Shinagawa ◽  
Hidehito Niimura ◽  
Hisashi Kida ◽  
Tomoyuki Nagata ◽  
...  

Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bharath Velmurugan ◽  
Baskaran Rathinasamy ◽  
Bharathi Lohanathan ◽  
Varadharajan Thiyagarajan ◽  
Ching-Feng Weng

Neurodegenerative diseases are normally distinguished as disorders with loss of neurons. Various compounds are being tested to treat neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) but they possess solitary symptomatic advantages with numerous side effects. Accumulative studies have been conducted to validate the benefit of phytochemicals to treat neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). In this present review we explored the potential efficacy of phytochemicals such as epigallocatechin-3-galate, berberin, curcumin, resveratrol, quercetin and limonoids against the most common NDs, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). The beneficial potentials of these phytochemicals have been demonstrated by evidence-based but more extensive investigation needs to be conducted for reducing the progression of AD and PD.


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