Oxidative stress and its effect on cell functional activity in Alzheimer’s disease

The review summarizes literature data on the importance of oxidative stress as one of the pathogenetic mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease. Special attention is paid to the main specific and nonspecific ways of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the course of the disease development. Generated ROS influence functional activity of cells, particularly, apoptosis and the mitotic cycle. Phosphorylation/dephosphorylation processes associated with intense phosphorylation of tau protein and mitosis-specific proteins play the nodal regulatory role in the cell. Alzheimer’s disease is accompanied by impairments of the regulatory functions of peptidyl-prolyl isomerases, particularly, Pin1 involved in maintaining a balanced state of phosphorylation/dephosphorylation processes. Taking into consideration the multifactorial impairment of the cell cycle control, this process should be considered from the viewpoint of the general state of metabolic processes, and oxidative stress has one of the key positions in aging.