Key network approach reveals new insight into Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a severe neurodegenerative disorder without curative treatment. Extensive data on pathological molecular processes have been accumulated over the last years. These data combined allows a systems biology approach to identify key regulatory elements of AD and to establish a model descriptive of the disease process which can be used for the development of therapeutic agents. In this study, the authors propose a closed network that uses a set of nodes (amyloid beta, tau, beta-secretase, glutamate, cyclin-dependent kinase 5, phosphoinositide 3-kinase and hypoxia-induced factor 1 alpha) as key elements of importance to the pathogenesis of AD. The proposed network, in total 39 nodes, is able to become a novel tool capable of providing new insights into AD, such as feedback loops. Further, it highlights interconnections between pathways and identifies their combination for therapy of AD.