Alzheimer's Disease: Apoptosis

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Pages: 13

Introduction
Apoptosis is an energy-dependent cell death process that helps maintain homeostasis as well as regulate tissue involution.1 When a cell dies apoptotically, it undergoes a number of morphological changes, including nuclear and cytoplasmic condensation and cell shrinkage. The characteristic features of apoptosis are caspase activation, intact plasma membrane, oligonucleosomal DNA ladder fragmentation, formation and phagocytosis of apoptotic bodies, as well as a lack of an inflammatory response.2,3 During embryogenesis, apoptosis is particularly important for immune and neuronal development.4 A number of diseases can occur when apoptosis is not properly regulated and this is associated with a number of autoimmune and neurological
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Q-VD-OPh was administered intraperitoneally during reperfusion. The absence of PARP in stroke-induced males resulted in smaller infarct sizes with no change in the levels of cytosolic cytochrome c; however, in PKO, stroke-induced females, the infarct size was much larger and the amount of cytosolic cytochrome c release was higher than the wildtype stroke-induced females.55 The administration of Q-VD-OPh was able to significantly reduce the infarct size in PKO mice and wildtype, stroke-induced, female mice, whereas no effect was observed in PKO males.55 Q-VD-OPh offers significant protection against apoptosis in females; the differences in cell death activation in the two sexes makes it difficult to develop an standardize treatment option. More testing is needed to find other options for male neuronal