Relationship Between Cancer And Alzheimer s Disease

Results from the Framingham Heart Study published by Driver et al, 2012(27) discussed the relationship between cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, using hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. From this, it was concluded that â€Å"cancer vulnerability may protect against Alzheimer’s, and vice versa.† It was suggested that this may be due to both diseases sharing similar genes and proteins, providing even more reason to research further into proteins such as the immunophilins, which have a role in both diseases. Analysis of genes from large databases would further improve knowledge on the immunophilins. 4.Is there a Role for Targeting Immunophilins in Neurodegeneration? 4.1 Angioneurins In recent years, it has become clear that the neural and†¦show more content†¦4.2 Immunophilin Ligands Steiner et al, 1997,(30) found that an immunophilin ligand, GPI-1046, caused regeneration of nerve axons and myelin, and also protected nerve fibres in vitro and in vivo in rat studies, providing evidence that there is potential with regard to immunophilins and neuroprotection. Another paper by Poulter et al, 2004(31) also suggested that immunophilin ligands derived from FK506 are effective in preventing neuronal degeneration in animal studies, however in clinical trials these effects were debatable, which may be rectified by carrying out a trial for a longer period of time. The authors commented that the inconsistent results show that the action of these ligands is not fully understood. TABLE 1. The Role of Angioneurins in Neurodegeneration, adapted from the original table by Zacchigna et al, 2008 (28) Angioneurin Result of Loss of Function Result of Gain of Function Receptor Expression VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) Increased risk of ALS in humans and mice. Motor neurone loss in hypoxic mice Improves memory and learning and provides neuroprotection in models of ALS and PD, in CNS and PNS in jury and in neuropathy and retinal degeneration Receptors expressed by endothelial cells, bone marrow progenitors and various neural cell types. VEGFR1 is more abundant in glial cells and VEGFR2 in neurons NGF (Nerve Growth