Targeting autophagy in Alzheimer’s disease: Animal models and mechanisms

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related progressive neurodegenerative disorder that leads to cognitive impairment and memory loss. Emerging evidence suggests that autophagy plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AD through the regulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) and tau metabolism, and that autophagy dysfunction exacerbates amyloidosis and tau pathology. Therefore, targeting autophagy may be an effective approach for the treatment of AD. Animal models are considered useful tools for investigating the pathogenic mechanisms and therapeutic strategies of diseases. This review aims to summarize the pathological alterations in autophagy in representative AD animal models and to present recent studies on newly discovered autophagy-stimulating interventions in animal AD models. Finally, the opportunities, difficulties, and future directions of autophagy targeting in AD therapy are discussed.