Alzheimer's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Alzheimer's Disease, including details on diagnosis, memory loss, heredity, treatment, medication.

Expression of cortical and hippocampal apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) in aging and Alzheimer's disease.

Reix S, Mechawar N, Susin SA, Quirion R, Krantic S

Institut de Neurobiologie de la Méditerranée (INMED), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Parc Scientifique Luminy, BP13, 13 273 Marseille, France.

Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) is a mitochondrial oxidoreductase originally identified for its role in caspase-independent programmed cell death (PCD). In this study, we investigated AIF protein expression levels in frontal and temporal cortices of normal subjects of various ages, as well as in subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD). AIF levels were also measured in the hippocampus of age-matched elderly and AD subjects. Amounts of all three AIF isoforms increased significantly with age in both cortical areas. Interestingly, AIF expression levels in the cortex (but not hippocampus) were consistently lower in AD compared to age-matched controls. The up-regulation of cortical AIF in normal aging is consistent with its previously hypothesized role as a free radical scavenger, and may thus represent an adaptive cellular response to compensate for the steady increase in oxidative stress occurring with age.

Published 5 February 2007 in Neurobiol Aging, 28(3): 351-6.
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