Recently, the supplement of Science, Pathways　to　Cures-Neurodegenerative　Diseases　in　China, has published a dissertation named "Novel　Pathways　Regulating　Function　and　Metabolism　of　ß-Amyloid　Precursor　Protein　in　Alzheimer's Disease". It is written by Expert of Xiamen University neurosciences research center and neurodegenerative disease research laboratory, Fujian province, and "Thousand Talents" plan expert, Prof. Xu Xihua, and Prof. Bu Guojun, as well as National Scientific Youth Scholar Prof. Zhang Yunwu. This dissertation is a summary on alzheimer disease (AD).

AD is the most common senile dementia, the most striking pathological feature is the starch plaque outside of a cell and the NFT. Starch plaque constitutes of β-amyloid protein (Aβ), while NFT constitutes of cytoskeletal protein. Aβis amylaceous precursor protein (APP) cut by β-secretase and γ-secretase; while the fromation of NFT is related to abnormal presence of protein. Evidence has shown that over-production and aggregation of Aβis the cause of AD, and Aβhas neurotoxicity and can cause cascade reaction, and eventually leads to molecular death.

Xiamen University Neurosciences Research Group has made fundamental advancement in neurodegenerative disease research, publishing their research fruits in international journals like NatMed、NatStructMolBiol、NatRevNeurol、Neuron、ProcNatlAcadSciUSA, having Xiamen University as the first or the corresponding author. This summary combines the outcomes of this group and other cooperative groups, deeply elaborates on the new methods of modifying APP and metabolism from APP's process, functions, and metabolizing as well as its control on intracellulare carriage. This result will help not only clarify the mechanism of AD, but also find new target cells for curing diseases.

(Institute of Neuroscience)