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Science 3 November 2006:
Vol. 314. no. 5800, pp. 777 - 781
DOI: 10.1126/science.1132814
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Review

A Century of Alzheimer's Disease

Michel Goedert1* and Maria Grazia Spillantini2

One hundred years ago a small group of psychiatrists described the abnormal protein deposits in the brain that define the most common neurodegenerative diseases. Over the past 25 years, it has become clear that the proteins forming the deposits are central to the disease process. Amyloid-ß and tau make up the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer's disease, where these normally soluble proteins assemble into amyloid-like filaments. Tau inclusions are also found in a number of related disorders. Genetic studies have shown that dysfunction of amyloid-ß or tau is sufficient to cause dementia. The ongoing molecular dissection of the neurodegenerative pathways is expected to lead to a true understanding of disease pathogenesis.

1 Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Medical Research Council, Cambridge CB2 2QH, UK.
2 Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 2PY, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mg{at}mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk

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