Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2023, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (12): 2685-2686.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.374004

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Calcium handling: a strategy to fight neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease

Livia La Barbera#, Elena Spoleti#, Marcello D’Amelio*   

  1. Department of Sciences and Technologies for Humans and Environment, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy (La Barbera L, Spoleti E)
    Department of Experimental Neurosciences, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy (La Barbera L, D’Amelio M) 
    Department of Medicine and Surgery, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy (D’Amelio M)
  • Online:2023-12-15 Published:2023-06-15
  • Contact: Marcello D’Amelio, PhD, m.damelio@unicampus.it.
  • Supported by:
    The present work was supported by an under-40 grant from the Italian Association for Alzheimer’s Research [AIRALTZH-AGYR2021], and by the Strategic University Projects – Young Researcher Independence [YRG2021] from the University Campus Bio-Medico (Rome, Italy) (to LLB); a PhD fellowship by Fondazione Melchiorri (IT) and by the Strategic University Projects – Young Researcher Independence [YRG2021] from the University Campus Bio-Medico (Rome, Italy) (to ES); the American Alzheimer’s Association [AARG-18-566270; AARG-21-851219], by the Italian Ministry of Health [Research Grant: RF-2018-12365527] and by Fondazione Roma (Rome, Italy) (to MDA).

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Abstract: In the last few years, preclinical and clinical studies identified the ventral tegmental area (VTA) as one of the first brain regions to be affected in the prodromal phase of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). 
The VTA is a deep midbrain nucleus rich in dopaminergic neurons that innervates and releases dopamine (DA) in several cortical and subcortical brain regions. DA plays a crucial role in the modulation of both cognitive and non-cognitive functions and failure of its release underlies both cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with AD.