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New insights into the role of fibroblast growth factors in Alzheimer’s disease

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Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), acknowledged as the most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder, is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly. The characteristic pathologic hallmarks of AD—including the deposition of extracellular senile plaques (SP) formation, intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, and synaptic loss, along with prominent vascular dysfunction and cognitive impairment—have been observed in patients. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), originally characterized as angiogenic factors, are a large family of signaling molecules that are implicated in a wide range of biological functions in brain development, maintenance and repair, as well as in the pathogenesis of brain-related disorders including AD. Many studies have focused on the implication of FGFs in AD pathophysiology. In this review, we will provide a summary of recent findings regarding the role of FGFs and their receptors in the pathogenesis of AD, and discuss the possible opportunities for targeting these molecules as novel treatment strategies in AD.

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Author notes

  1. Ramy Alam, Yara Mrad, Hussein Hammoud and Zahraa Saker contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Research Center, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Hadath, Beirut, Lebanon

    Ramy Alam, Hussein Hammoud, Zahraa Saker, Youssef Fares, Elias Estephan, Hayat Harati & Sanaa Nabha

  2. Université Clermont Auvergne, Inserm, Neuro-Dol, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Yara Mrad

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon

    Youssef Fares

  4. Arkadi M. Rywlin M.D. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL, 33140, USA

    Hisham F. Bahmad

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  1. Ramy Alam
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Contributions

SN conceived the concept and idea of the present review. RA, YM, HH, ZS, HFB, HH, and SN worked on the study design strategy and selected the topics to be discussed. RA, HH, YM and ZS did literature searches and screened titles and abstracts for relevance. RA, HH, YM and ZS abstracted the data from the eligible full text articles, analyzed and interpreted the data, and drafted the manuscript. YF, and EE revised the final draft of the manuscript. HFB, HH and SN critically revised the manuscript with input from the entire team. All authors have read and approved the final draft.

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Correspondence to Hayat Harati or Sanaa Nabha.

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Alam, R., Mrad, Y., Hammoud, H. et al. New insights into the role of fibroblast growth factors in Alzheimer’s disease. Mol Biol Rep 49, 1413–1427 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-021-06890-0

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