Title:A Potential Strategy for Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders
by Regulation of Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Human Brain
Volume: 29
Issue: 32
Author(s): Wei-Song Xie, Kiran Shehzadi*, Hong-Le Ma and Jian-Hua Liang*
Affiliation:
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutics Engineering, School of Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 102488, China
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutics Engineering, School of Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 102488, China
- Yangtze Delta Region Academy of Beijing Institute of Technology, Jiaxing 314019, China
Keywords:
Neurogenesis, hippocampus, neurodegenerative, small molecules, structure-activity relationship, human brain.
Abstract: Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is a multistage mechanism that continues
throughout the lifespan of human and non-human mammals. These adult-born neurons in
the central nervous system (CNS) play a significant role in various hippocampus-dependent
processes, including learning, mood regulation, pattern recognition, etc. Reduction
of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, caused by multiple factors such as neurological disorders
and aging, would impair neuronal proliferation and differentiation and result in memory
loss. Accumulating studies have indicated that functional neuron impairment could
be restored by promoting adult hippocampal neurogenesis. In this review, we summarized
the small molecules that could efficiently promote the process of adult neurogenesis,
particularly the agents that have the capacity of crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB),
and showed in vivo efficacy in mammalian brains. This may pave the way for the rational
design of drugs to treat human neurodegenerative disorders in the future.