Biomolecular Investigations of Alzheimer's Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder. Because of the growing elderly, the WHO prediction for 2050 is more than 115 million individuals will be affected. The severity of AD is that patients with advanced AD are wholly dependent on nursing care. Therefore, AD is currently the most socially costly disease.

Biomarkers are indicators of a biological condition found in the human body and are clinically very useful for determining the risk, presence, and severity of a disease. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is the most common source of molecular biomarkers in AD. CSF biomarkers are sensitive and specific, but their use is limited because it requires an invasive lumbar puncture that can cause side effects. On the other hand, neuroimaging also provides critical information about the gross pathological status and affected specific brain areas. However, neuroimaging has an entry barrier to general use due to its high cost and in some cases a reluctance to radiation exposure. Thus, there is a strong need to find new biomarkers for less invasive and less expensive diagnostic tests to identify the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The option was to search for peripheral biomarkers, including new blood- or other body fluid-borne biomarkers. Due to the lower cost and reduced invasiveness, peripheral biomarkers can provide a great opportunity to serve as a screening test to help diagnose neurodegeneration and monitor progression and response to a hypothetical treatment.

In this Special Issue of the Biomolecules, the tentative topic will be peripheral biomarkers in AD. It is dedicated to research articles and reviews regarding biomolecules useful for diagnosis, evolution, prevention, and risk factors for AD. 

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

- Genetic biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease

- Peripheral fluid-based biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease

- New CSF biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease

- Cell-based biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease

- Other peripheral biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease

Prof. Dr. Cheil Moon
Prof. Keun-A Chang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomolecules is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.