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Aluminum-Induced Neural Cell Death

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Neurotoxicity of Aluminum

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Abstract

Aluminum (Al), an abundant element in the Earth’s crust, is well known for its neurotoxicity. Nonetheless, its causal role in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is still under debate. Many studies have shown that neural cell death and cognitive deficits induced by Al are similar to those in AD. In the present chapter, we separately demonstrate Al-induced cell death in neurons, neuroglial cells, and cocultured neural cells from newborn rats and zebrafish to illustrate the neurotoxic effects. Moreover, we not only examined the classic cell death pathways of apoptosis and necrosis but also compared them with autophagy and a newly discovered cell death pathway known as necroptosis, which demonstrates its crucial roles in Al-induced neural cell death. Finally, we verified the cell death pathways attributed to neural cell death in an Al-induced AD-like mouse model. This series of studies could provide an underlying mechanism and potential therapeutic agents for Al-induced neurodegenerative diseases.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the National Natural Scientific Foundation of China (30371203, 30671777, 30740032, 81673142) and Shanxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation (2009011054-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

    Qinli Zhang

  2. University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA

    Qinli Zhang

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  1. Qinli Zhang
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

    Qiao Niu

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Zhang, Q. (2023). Aluminum-Induced Neural Cell Death. In: Niu, Q. (eds) Neurotoxicity of Aluminum. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1592-7_9

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