Complement System in Alzheimer's Disease.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia characterized by problems with short-term memory, cognition, and difficulties with activities of daily living. It is a progressive, neurodegenerative disorder. The complement system is an ancient part of the innate immune system and comprises of more than thirty serum and membrane-bound proteins. This system has three different activating pathways and culminates into the formation of a membrane attack complex that ultimately causes target cell lysis (usually pathogens) The complement system is involved in several important functions in the central nervous system (CNS) that include neurogenesis, synaptic pruning, apoptosis, and neuronal plasticity. Here, we discuss how the complement system is involved in the effective functioning of CNS, while also contributing to chronic neuroinflammation leading to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. We also discuss potential targets in the complement system for stopping its harmful effects via neuroinflammation and provide perspective for the direction of future research in this field.

• Authors: Akash Shah, Uday Kishore, Abhishek Shastri
• Journal: International journal of molecular sciences (Int J Mol Sci) Vol. 22 Issue 24 (Dec 20 2021) ISSN: 1422-0067 [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 34948444 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Complement System Proteins

Topics

• Alzheimer Disease (immunology)
• Complement System Proteins (metabolism)
• Gene Expression Regulation
• Humans
• Neurogenesis
• Neuronal Plasticity