62 RESULTS
COMMENT These elegant experiments by Meyer-Luehmann and colleagues demonstrate that the proteopathic corruption of tissue can be more strongly influenced by the environment in which the tissue develops than by the lineage of the tissue itself (I will forego the o
COMMENT Neurofibrillary tangles consist of tau protein that has forsaken its role as a stabilizer of microtubules to polymerize into abnormal fibrils within neurons. Preclinical and clinical evidence leaves little doubt that abnormal tau polymerization is injurio
COMMENT The cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs) constitute a family of enzymes that regulates a variety of cellular functions. The importance of CDKs in cell cycle control has made these kinases attractive targets for the treatment of cancer (Sausville EA, Curr Med C
COMMENT Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed definitively by the presence of amyloid and tau pathology in the context of dementia. Because plaques and tangles (the canonical AD lesions) can be detected with certainty only by histological analysis, a method of vi
COMMENT A recurring theme in the pathogenesis of diverse degenerative disorders is the accumulation of certain proteins in cells and tissues. Although many details remain to be ironed out, the pathogenic importance of cerebral Aβ accumulation in Alzheimer disease
COMMENT The protean and itinerant nature of phagocytes has compelled researchers to devise increasingly ingenious experiments to establish their role in brain disorders, as exemplified nicely by the studies of Mildner et al. and Ajami et al. These researchers mak
COMMENT Clavaguera, Tolnay, Goedert, and colleagues present a compelling argument for the exogenous induction and endogenous spread of tauopathy in rodent models. In these experiments, tauopathy was seeded de novo both in a transgenic mouse strain that normally d
COMMENT Two prominent messages emerge from the Sephton paper and the burgeoning literature on TDP-43: 1) TDP-43 is important for the normal functioning of cells; and 2) its actions are many and complex. This being so, is it realistic to assume that targeting one
COMMENT In search of the “β Bang” The evidence strongly favors a crucial role of the peptide Aβ in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In vitro studies have nicely illuminated the mechanics of polymerization and fibrillization of Aβ and other proteopath
COMMENT The origin, function, and sometimes even the existence of macrophages in the brain have been vigorously debated over the past century (see, for example, the historical overview by Peters, Palay, and Webster in The Fine Structure of the Nervous System, Oxf
COMMENT An edifying review of the parallels between two important 20th century discoveries- that DNA is the molecule that encodes hereditary information, and that a protein is the infective agent in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Opposition to these n
COMMENT This is a nice review of the state of the art in applying viral vectors to treat Parkinson disease. Kirik and Bjorklund also have been involved in interesting work on modeling PD via focal expression of α-synuclein using viral vectors (e.g., Eslamboli et
COMMENT Disclosure: As an Alzforum advisor, I can't be entirely objective on this topic. However, it is impossible to deny the growing impact of web-based information-sharing on scientific communication. One hurdle for research websites will be standing out
COMMENT This is an important cautionary tale; if authors are disinclined to provide a current and comprehensive context for their work, reviewers and editors should compel them to do so. 0 lwalker
COMMENT This is a nice overview of an in-vitro approach to studying the relationship between structural variation of amyloidogenic proteins at the molecular level and resulting supramolecular aggregates ('spherulites'). 0 lwalker
