Unfolded p53 in Blood as a Predictive Signature Signature of the Transition from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Alzheimer's Disease

• Published in: Journal of Alzheimer's disease Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 97 - 104
• Main Authors: Lanni, Cristina, Racchi, Marco, Stanga, Serena, Mazzini, Giuliano, Ranzenigo, Alberto, Polotti, Renzo, Memo, Maurizio, Govoni, Stefano, Uberti, Daniela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2010
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - blood; Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; Analysis of Variance; Apolipoprotein E4; Case-Control Studies; Cognition Disorders - blood; Disease Progression; Female; Flow Cytometry - methods; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Predictive Value of Tests; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 - blood; mild cognitive impairment; unfolded blood p53; risk factor; cytofluorimetric approach
• ISSN: 1387-2877; 1875-8908; 1875-8908
• DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2010-1347

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a syndrome defined as cognitive decline, but not sufficient to meet the criteria for any specific dementia. Although subjects with MCI may have an increased risk to develop AD, this clinical state encompasses several subtypes of cognitive dysfunction of different etiologies, none of which necessarily progresses to AD. The current inability of clinical criteria to accurately identify this at-risk group for AD development is fuelling the interest in biomarkers able to supplement clinical approaches. We recently described a blood-based cytofluorimetric method for conformationally altered p53 protein detection that allows the discrimination of AD patients from control subjects and patients affected by other dementias. The same protein also predicted progression to AD in preclinical patients with MCI two years before clinical diagnosis of AD was made. Herein, we describe these findings and discuss the potential of the test in diagnosing AD.