Antioxidant pathway as potential therapy for Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Oxidative stress is the imbalance between reactive oxygen species and antioxidants in a cell. Often this imbalance is caused by an increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to dyshomeostasis of the cellular redox balance. Oxidative stress is a major component of several chronic diseases. To mitigate the damage caused by oxidative stress our cells are capable of producing their own antioxidants. One cellular mechanism involves the nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2) antioxidant pathway which can be activated in the presence of ROS. To better understand how this pathway works, it is important to track Nrf2 during activation of this pathway. Here we test three different plasmids designed to either force expression of “tagged” proteins in the Nrf2 pathway, or to provide a readout mechanism for the level of Nrf2 activation. These experiments lend support for the efficacy of using these tools to better understand the Nrf2 pathway.