TY - JOUR
T1 - Matter of life and death
T2 - The pharmacological approaches targeting apoptosis in brain diseases
AU - Cavallucci, Virve
AU - D'Amelio, Marcello
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Neurodegenerative diseases that include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, brain trauma and spinal cord injury, are associated with the inappropriate activation of a neuronal cell-suicide program called apoptosis. Given that central nervous system tissue has very limited regenerative capacity it is of extreme importance to limit the damage caused by neuronal death. During the past decade, considerable progress has been made in understanding the process of apoptosis and, significantly, a number of studies have shown that a variety of small molecules can activate or inhibit cell death by acting on crucial checkpoints of apoptosis. Here, we review evidence linking apoptosis to brain diseases and discuss how knowledge of the mechanisms of cell death has led to novel therapeutic strategies.
AB - Neurodegenerative diseases that include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, brain trauma and spinal cord injury, are associated with the inappropriate activation of a neuronal cell-suicide program called apoptosis. Given that central nervous system tissue has very limited regenerative capacity it is of extreme importance to limit the damage caused by neuronal death. During the past decade, considerable progress has been made in understanding the process of apoptosis and, significantly, a number of studies have shown that a variety of small molecules can activate or inhibit cell death by acting on crucial checkpoints of apoptosis. Here, we review evidence linking apoptosis to brain diseases and discuss how knowledge of the mechanisms of cell death has led to novel therapeutic strategies.
KW - Anti-apoptotic therapies
KW - Cell death
KW - Mitochondria
KW - Neurodegenerative diseases
KW - Oxidative stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79955978036&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79955978036&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2174/138161211795049705
DO - 10.2174/138161211795049705
M3 - Article
C2 - 21348825
AN - SCOPUS:79955978036
VL - 17
SP - 215
EP - 229
JO - Current Pharmaceutical Design
JF - Current Pharmaceutical Design
SN - 1381-6128
IS - 3
ER -