Week 6.5 Flashcards
What is the protein aggregate found in AD, PD, HD, CJD, and ALS?
- AD: beta-amyloid, tau tangles
- PD: alpha-synuclein
- HD: huntingtin
- CJD: prion
- ALS: TDP-43
Alzheimer’s has a typical onset of what age?
sixty years old
Describe the gross pathology of Alzheimer’s disease.
- early medial temporal atrophy
- occipital lobe relatively spared
- large ventricles and hydrocephalus ex vacuo
Alzheimer’s typically spares what lobe of the brain?
occipital
What vascular disease is associated with Alzheimer’s disease?
cerebral beta-amyloid angiopathy
What are Hirano bodies?
actin aggregates common in the hippocampal neurons of those with Alzheimer’s
Beta-amyloid is a product of what metabolic process?
cleavage of the APP protein by beta- and gamma-secretase
The APP gene is located on which chromosome?
21
Down’s syndrome patients often suffer from early onset of what dementia?
Alzheimer’s
A functional tau protein plays what physiologic role?
it stabilizes microtubules
Which protein aggregate is more strongly associated with the onset of symptoms in Alzheimer’s?
the appearance of tau tangles
Tau tangles preferentially affect which brain regions?
- amygdala
- hippocampus
- lateral geniculate nucleus
What causes tau to become pathological?
it is phosphorylated
What are some genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease?
presenilin-1 and ApoE4
The ApoE gene encodes a protein that does what?
it is a cholesterol transporter apolipoprotein