<p style="text-align: center;">HE Xun, YU Yutian</p><p style="text-align: center;">(Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China)</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Abstract</strong>:&nbsp; Alzheimer&#39;s&nbsp; disease&nbsp; (AD)&nbsp; is&nbsp; the&nbsp; most&nbsp; common&nbsp; type&nbsp; of&nbsp; dementia,&nbsp; which&nbsp; is&nbsp; a neurodegenerative disease associated with a variety of genes. The pathogenesis of AD is currently thought to be related to heredity, apoptosis, free radical damage and other factors. The pathological changes of AD mainly involve the cholinergic nerve pathways of the anterior base of the cerebral cortex&nbsp; and&nbsp; the&nbsp; hippocampus. These&nbsp; pathways&nbsp; are&nbsp; well&nbsp; known&nbsp; for&nbsp; being&nbsp; involved&nbsp; in&nbsp; attention, learning, memory and other cognitive processes. Inhibition of expression of repressor element-1-silencing transcription factor (REST) is a common feature of normal aging in the human cerebral cortex and hippocampus neurons. However, in the brain of mild cognitive impairment and AD, REST&nbsp; protein&nbsp; was&nbsp; not&nbsp; found.&nbsp; Chromatin&nbsp; immunoprecipitation&nbsp; and&nbsp; gene&nbsp; expression&nbsp; analysis showed that REST protein could serve as a nerve modulator in inhibiting gene expression that promotes cell death and causes AD. In addition, REST may increase the expression of FOXO transcription factors that mediate oxidative stress and the expression of antioxidant enzymes CAT&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">and&nbsp; SOD1&nbsp; by&nbsp; indirect&nbsp; mechanisms&nbsp; such&nbsp; as&nbsp; inhibition&nbsp; of&nbsp; microRNAs. Take&nbsp; into&nbsp; account&nbsp; these findings, we believe that REST protein may play a key role in the pathogenesis of AD.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Key words</strong>: REST protein, Alzheimer&#39;s disease (AD), Neuron</p><p><br/></p>