Open AccessRole of LDL Cholesterol and Endolysosomes in Amyloidogenesis and Alzheimer’s Disease
Author(s) -
Xuesong Chen,
Hui Liang,
Jonathan D. Geiger
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of neurology and neurophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2155-9562
DOI - 10.4172/2155-9562.1000236
Subject(s) - apolipoprotein e , pathogenesis , amyloid beta , amyloid (mycology) , cholesterol , amyloid precursor protein , alzheimer's disease , presenilin , biology , medicine , disease , endocrinology , chemistry , botany
The pathogenesis of late-onset sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) is believed to result from complex interactions between nutritional, environmental, epigenetic and genetic factors. Among those factors, altered circulating cholesterol homeostasis, independent of the APOE genotype, continues to be implicated in brain deposition of amyloid beta protein (Aβ) and the pathogenesis of AD. It is believed that trafficking of amyloid beta precursor protein (AβPP) into endolysosomes appears to play a critical role in determining amyloidogenic processing of AβPP because this is precisely where two enzymes critically important in AβPP metabolism are located; beta amyloid converting enzyme (BACE-1) and gamma secretase enzyme. We have shown that elevated levels of LDL cholesterol promote AβPP internalization, disturb neuronal endolysosome structure and function, and increase Aβ accumulation in neuronal endolysosomes. Here, we will further discuss the linkage between elevated levels of LDL cholesterol and AD pathogenesis, and explore the underlying mechanisms whereby elevated levels of plasma LDL cholesterol promote amyloidogenesis.