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Updated: Mar 25, 2026

Fabrication of Amyloid-β-Secreting Alginate Microbeads for Use in Modelling Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: July 6, 2019
The Cellular Phase of Alzheimer's Disease
Bart De Strooper1, Eric Karran2
1VIB Center for the Biology of Disease, VIB-Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Center for Human Genetics, Universitaire Ziekenhuizen and LIND, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, WC1N 3BG London, UK.
Abstract:
The amyloid hypothesis for Alzheimer's disease (AD) posits a neuron-centric, linear cascade initiated by Aβ and leading to dementia. This direct causality is incompatible with clinical observations. We review evidence supporting a long, complex cellular phase consisting of feedback and feedforward responses of astrocytes, microglia, and vasculature. The field must incorporate this holistic view and take advantage of advances in single-cell approaches to resolve the critical junctures at which perturbations initially amenable to compensatory feedback transform into irreversible, progressive neurodegeneration.
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