The pleiotropic roles of autophagy in Alzheimer's disease: From pathophysiology to therapy

Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway and the main clearance route of many toxic protein aggregates. The molecular pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) manifests in the form of protein aggregates-extracellular amyloid13 depositions and intracellular tau neurofibrillary tangles. Perturbations at different steps of the autophagy pathway observed in cellular and animal models of AD might contribute to amyloid-13 and tau accumulation. Increased levels of autophagosomes detected in patients' brains suggest an alteration of autophagy in human disease. Autophagy is also involved in the fine-tuning of inflammation, which increases in the early stages of AD and possibly drives its pathogenesis. Mounting evidence of a causal link between impaired autophagy and AD pathology uncovers an exciting opportunity for the development of autophagy-based therapeutics.

Automated summary

Autophagy is a vital pathway for clearing toxic protein aggregates, playing a crucial role in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. The increased levels of autophagosomes in patients' brains may be associated with the disease, while autophagy is also involved in regulating inflammation, further driving pathogenesis.