GENETICS OF ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

This review reports epidemiological data and biological mechanisms abo ut the Apolipoprotein E gene allele epsilon 4 that is a major risk fac tor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The second part describes the three genes, amyloid precusor protein (APP), presenilin 1(PS1) and presenili n 2(PS2) genes, which when mutated cause early-onset autosomal dominan t AD. Mutations on each of these genes have as a common consequence el evated levels of A beta(42,3).