98%
921
2 minutes
20
Neurodegeneration is increasingly recognized not as a linear trajectory of protein accumulation, but as a multidimensional collapse of biological organization-spanning intracellular signaling, transcriptional identity, proteostatic integrity, organelle communication, and network-level computation. This review intends to synthesize emerging frameworks that reposition neurodegenerative diseases (ND) as progressive breakdowns of interpretive cellular logic, rather than mere terminal consequences of protein aggregation or synaptic attrition. The discussion aims to provide a detailed mapping of how critical signaling pathways-including PI3K-AKT-mTOR, MAPK, Wnt/β-catenin, and integrated stress response cascades-undergo spatial and temporal disintegration. Special attention is directed toward the roles of RNA-binding proteins (e.g., TDP-43, FUS, ELAVL2), m6A epitranscriptomic modifiers (METTL3, YTHDF1, IGF2BP1), and non-canonical post-translational modifications (SUMOylation, crotonylation) in disrupting translation fidelity, proteostasis, and subcellular targeting. At the organelle level, the review seeks to highlight how the failure of ribosome-associated quality control (RQC), autophagosome-lysosome fusion machinery (STX17, SNAP29), and mitochondrial import/export systems (TIM/TOM complexes) generates cumulative stress and impairs neuronal triage. These dysfunctions are compounded by mitochondrial protease overload (LONP1, CLPP), UPR maladaptation, and phase-transitioned stress granules that sequester nucleocytoplasmic transport proteins and ribosomal subunits, especially in ALS and FTD contexts. Synaptic disassembly is treated not only as a downstream event, but as an early tipping point, driven by impaired PSD scaffolding, aberrant endosomal recycling (Rab5, Rab11), complement-mediated pruning (C1q/C3-CR3 axis), and excitatory-inhibitory imbalance linked to parvalbumin interneuron decay. Using insights from single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, the review illustrates how regional vulnerability to proteostatic and metabolic stress converges with signaling noise to produce entropic attractor collapse within core networks such as the DMN, SN, and FPCN. By framing neurodegeneration as an active loss of cellular and network "meaning-making"-a collapse of coordinated signal interpretation, triage prioritization, and adaptive response-the review aims to support a more integrative conceptual model. In this context, therapeutic direction may shift from damage containment toward restoring high-dimensional neuronal agency, via strategies that include the following elements: reprogrammable proteome-targeting agents (e.g., PROTACs), engineered autophagy adaptors, CRISPR-based BDNF enhancers, mitochondrial gatekeeping stabilizers, and glial-exosome neuroengineering. This synthesis intends to offer a translational scaffold for viewing neurodegeneration as not only a disorder of accumulation but as a systems-level failure of cellular reasoning-a perspective that may inform future efforts in resilience-based intervention and precision neurorestoration.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12383969 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13082025 | DOI Listing |
Nat Aging
September 2025
Aging Biomarker Consortium (ABC), Beijing, China.
The global surge in the population of people 60 years and older, including that in China, challenges healthcare systems with rising age-related diseases. To address this demographic change, the Aging Biomarker Consortium (ABC) has launched the X-Age Project to develop a comprehensive aging evaluation system tailored to the Chinese population. Our goal is to identify robust biomarkers and construct composite aging clocks that capture biological age, defined as an individual's physiological and molecular state, across diverse Chinese cohorts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Rev Cancer
September 2025
Department of Neurology, Division of Neuro-Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Neurotoxicity is a common and potentially severe adverse effect from conventional and novel cancer therapy. The mechanisms that underlie clinical symptoms of central and peripheral nervous system injury remain incompletely understood. For conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy or radiotherapy, direct toxicities to brain structures and neurovascular damage may result in myelin degradation and impaired neurogenesis, which eventually translates into delayed neurodegeneration accompanied by cognitive symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Respir Cell Mol Biol
September 2025
University of Toronto, Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) is a serious condition involving physical weakness, depression, and cognitive impairment that develop during or after an intensive care unit (ICU) stay, often resulting in long-term declines in quality of life. Patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe COVID-19 are at particularly high risk, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying PICS remain poorly understood. Here, we identify impaired Apelin-APJ signaling as a potential contributor to PICS pathogenesis via disruption of inter-organ homeostasis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
September 2025
Department of Life Sciences, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Republic of Korea.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the selective degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and aggregation of α-synuclein. Emerging evidence implicates the gut microbiome in PD, with microbial metabolites proposed as potential pathological mediators. However, the specific microbes and metabolites involved, and whether gut-derived metabolites can reach the brain to directly induce neurodegeneration, remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAgeing Res Rev
September 2025
Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA; Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA.
Body-brain interaction (BBI) plays a critical role in coordinating the communication between peripheral organs and the brain, contributing to the comorbidity of metabolic disorders and neurological disorders. In the context of obesity, one of the key mediators driving systemic and neuroinflammatory responses is the soluble form of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), which primarily signals through TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) to regulate inflammation and cell death. In this review, we examine how TNF/TNFR1-mediated metabolic inflammation in obesity disrupts cellular homeostasis across multiple organ systems, including the brain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF