LonDownS Consortium on the mechanisms of Alzheimer disease

LonDownS have just published a large review in Nature Reviews Neuroscience about what Down syndrome can tell us about the mechanisms of Alzheimer disease

Down syndrome, which arises in individuals carrying an extra copy of chromosome 21, is associated with a greatly increased risk of early-onset Alzheimer disease (AD). It is thought that this risk is mainly conferred by the presence of three copies of the gene encoding amyloid precursor protein (APP) — an AD risk factor — although the possession of extra copies of other chromosome 21 genes may also play a part. Interestingly, everyone with Down syndrome has the classic neuropathology of dementia but not will develop dementia. This dissociation is extremely interesting and we suggest that detailed study of people with Down syndrome could provide mechanistic insights into AD both in this population and in the general population.

Read the full text of our review:
http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/nrn3983.pdf