Development of a novel therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease targeting on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors on microglia

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Galantamine is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor approved for symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Galantamine also acts as an allosterically potentiating ligand for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors(nAChRs). In this study, we demonstrated that galantamine stimulates nAChRs on microglia and promotes microglial phagocytic ability. This effect resulted in the reduction of amyloid-β burden in the brain which is thought to be a primary pathological event in the development of Alzheimer's disease. We further successfully differentiated bone-marrow cells to the microglia-like amyloid-β phagocytic cells.