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Tipping the apoptotic balance in Alzheimer's disease

The abortosis concept

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Abstract

The mechanisms underlying the selective neuronal death in Alzheimer's disease are largely unresolved. Nonetheless, it is apparent that the environment of the diseased brain is extremely rich in proapoptotic stimuli and that these lead to an activation of the apoptotic death cascade. However, there is surprisingly little evidence for the completion of the death pathway indicating that the apoptotic death program is terminated by a mechanism termed abortosis. This review discusses the concept of abortosis in relation to Alzheimer's disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

    Arun K. Raina, Xiongwei Zhu, George Perry & Mark A. Smith

  2. Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Shun Shimohama

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  1. Arun K. Raina
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  2. Xiongwei Zhu
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  3. Shun Shimohama
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  4. George Perry
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Correspondence to Mark A. Smith.

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Raina, A.K., Zhu, X., Shimohama, S. et al. Tipping the apoptotic balance in Alzheimer's disease. Cell Biochem Biophys 39, 249–255 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1385/CBB:39:3:249

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