microRNAs in Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias

摘要

Recent studies have demonstrated that non-coding microRNAs (miR-NAs), which function at the posttranscriptional level as a rheostat of the transcrip-tome and proteome, control a variety of neuronal functions as well as neuronal survival. Studies performed in humans support the idea that changes in miRNA expression profiles or target sequences could significantly contribute to the risk of major neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). MiRNAs seem to participate directly in the regulation of expression of AD-related genes, including APP and BACE1/beta-secretase, which are involved in the neurotoxic Abeta peptide production; the latter accumulates in the brains of AD patients. This observation is interesting, as gene dosage effects of the APP gene can cause genetic AD. In this regard, miRNA research appears to be particularly promising for the understanding of the very frequent and poorly understood sporadic forms of AD and probably other neurological disorders.