A review on the last advances in Alzheimer's disease research

Treball Final de Grau en Química. Codi: QU0943. Curs acadèmic: 2019/2020Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in Western countries. The increase in life expectancy in recent decades along with the higher prevalence of the disease with age, make it one of the biggest problems in this society. As the disease progresses, cognitive, behavioral and functional changes are produced as a consequence of the progressive neurodegeneration process. Knowing, understanding and characterizing the mechanisms involved in this process of neurodegeneration at molecular level is therefore of vital importance. In this sense, through the following bibliographic work, we intend to analyze some of the events that occur in the brain of the affected people, emphasizing the two biochemical mechanisms that are better characterized in the pathogenesis of this disease, the generation of the β-amyloid peptide and the hyperphosphorylation of the tau protein. Special attention is also given to the last advances acquired through the use of computational chemistry techniques, focusing on the involved enzyme catalyzed reactions, or the processes of amyloid aggregation, in order to find out how to stop the deterioration provoked by this terrible disease