Differential Effects of Polyphenols on Insulin Proteolysis by the Insulin-Degrading Enzyme.

The insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) possesses a strong ability to degrade insulin and Aβ42 that has been linked to the neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Given this, an attractive IDE-centric strategy for the development of therapeutics for AD is to boost IDE's activity for the clearance of Aβ42 without offsetting insulin proteostasis. Recently, we showed that resveratrol enhances IDE's activity toward Aβ42.

Inhibition of the Self-Assembly of Aβ and of Tau by Polyphenols: Mechanistic Studies.

The amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide and tau protein are thought to play key neuropathogenic roles in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Both Aβ and tau self-assemble to form the two major pathological hallmarks of AD: amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, respectively. In this review, we show that naturally occurring polyphenols abundant in fruits, vegetables, red wine, and tea possess the ability to target pathways associated with the formation of assemblies of Aβ and tau.