This volume contains the proceedings of the meeting Genetics and Alzheimer's Disease held in Paris, on March 25,1988, by the Fondation Ipsen pour la Recherche Therapeuti­ que. This meeting was the second of the series of Colloques Medecine et Recherche devoted to Alzheimer's disease. The first one was held in Angers (France) on September 14, 1987; the proceedings of this meeting have already been published and are entitled Immunology and Alzheimer's Disease (1988, edited by A Pouplard-Barthelaix, J Emile, and Y Christen). The third Colloque Medecine et Recherche, organized in Montpellier on Sep­ tember 19, 1988, dealt with neuronal grafting; the proceedings of this last meeting will be published in early 1989 (Neuronal Grafting and Alzheimer's Disease: Future Perspectives, edited by F Gage, A Privat and Y Christen). In each case, the Fondation Ipsen deliberately focuses attention on the most up-to-date themes, and sometimes the most controversial ones, from medical and scientific research. The genetic aspects of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) stands at the very forefront of research carried out in the last 2 years. It complements research using the formal approach, which has become possible thanks to the study of extended kindreds by J-F Foncin and other scientists. The recent work on molecular and genetics biology has followed two main pathways: 1. The study of the gene(s) responsible for the familial form(s), which can be considered the AD gene(s).

Inhalt

The Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease: Current Status and Future Development of Research.- Heterogeneity in Alzheimer's Disease: An Exercise in the Resolution of a Phenotype.- Extended Kindreds as a Model for Research on Alzheimer's Disease.- Familial Aggregation of Dementia of Alzheimer Type: Analysis from an Epidemiological Point of View.- The IMAGE Project: A Geographical Laboratory for the Integration of Multidisciplinary Data.- Dermatoglyphic Patterns in Senile Dementia of Alzheimer's Type.- A Phylogenetic Hypothesis for Alzheimer's Disease.- Chromosome 21, Trisomy 21, and Alzheimer's Disease.- Trisomic and Transgenic Mice in the Study of the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease and Down's Syndrome.- Molecular Genetic Strategies in Familial Alzheimer's Disease: Theoretical and Practical Considerations.- Genetic Linkage Studies in Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Families.- Genetic Linkage Analysis in Two Large Belgian Alzheimer's Families with Chromosomes 21 DNA Markers.- Alternative cDNA Clones of Amyloid ?-Protein Precursor Gene Encode Proteinase Inhibitor.- Precursor of Alzheimer's Disease (PAD) A4 Amyloid Protein.- Cloning of the Beta Amyloid Peptide Gene in Alzheimer's Disease.- Molecular Analysis of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease.- Paired Helical Filaments (PHFs): Update 1988.- Studies of the Beta-Amyloid Precursor Protein in Brain and the Pathological Transformation of Tau into the Neurofibrillary Tangle.- Etiology Versus Pathogenesis: The Causes of Post-Translational Modifications of Host-Specified Brain Proteins to Amyloid Configuration.