0000000000019332
AUTHOR
Florian Schuck
Identification of Phlogacantholide C as a Novel ADAM10 Enhancer from Traditional Chinese Medicinal Plants
Background: Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most prevalent dementias in the elderly population with increasing numbers of patients. One pivotal hallmark of this disorder is the deposition of protein aggregates stemming from neurotoxic amyloid-beta peptides. Synthesis of those peptides has been efficiently prevented in AD model mice by activation of an enzyme called alpha-secretase. Therefore, drugs with the capability to increase the expression of this enzyme, named ADAM10, have been suggested as a valuable therapeutic medication. Methods: We investigated 69 substances from a drug library derived from traditional Chinese medicine by luciferase reporter assay in human neuronal cells for th…
Extract of Caragana sinica as a potential therapeutic option for increasing alpha-secretase gene expression
Abstract Background Alzheimer's disease represents one of the main neurological disorders in the aging population. Treatment options so far are only of symptomatic nature and efforts in developing disease modifying drugs by targeting amyloid beta peptide-generating enzymes remain fruitless in the majority of human studies. During the last years, an alternative approach emerged to target the physiological alpha-secretase ADAM10, which is not only able to prevent formation of toxic amyloid beta peptides but also provides a neuroprotective fragment of the amyloid precursor protein – sAPPalpha. Purpose To identify novel alpha-secretase enhancers from a library of 313 extracts of medicinal plant…
Altered Gut Microbiome Composition and Tryptic Activity of the 5xFAD Alzheimer's Mouse Model.
The regulation of physiological gut functions such as peristalsis or secretion of digestive enzymes by the central nervous system via the Nervus vagus is well known. Recent investigations highlight that pathological conditions of neurological or psychiatric disorders might directly interfere with the autonomous neuronal network of the gut - the enteric nervous system, or even derive from there. By using a murine Alzheimer's disease model, we investigated a potential influence of disease-associated changes on gastrointestinal properties. 5xFAD mice at three different ages were compared to wild type littermates in regard to metabolic parameters and enzymes of the gut by fluorimetric enzyme as…
Acitretin, an Enhancer of Alpha-Secretase Expression, Crosses the Blood-Brain Barrier and Is Not Eliminated by P-Glycoprotein
<i>Background:</i> ADAM10 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10) has been demonstrated to act as the main physiological α-secretase. Enzymatic activity of the α-secretase on the one hand prevents the formation of toxic Aβ peptides and on the other hand promotes the secretion of a neurotrophic and neuroprotective amyloid precursor protein fragment (APPs-α) by cleaving the amyloid precursor protein within its Aβ sequence. Enhancement of ADAM10’s gene expression may therefore present a valuable therapeutic approach for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), where Aβ peptides are severely involved in the pathogenesis. <i>Objective:</i> In cell culture and in a tran…