Neurodegenerative diseases are associated with progressive degeneration of
neurons or death of nerve cells. This chapter emphasizes mainly on age-related
neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Prion
disease. Abnormal fibrous tangles, β sheet plaques, cholinergic deficits, chronic
neuroinflammation, nerve cell death, oxidative stress, and inflammatory cascade are the
common molecular and biochemical changes of Alzheimer’s disease. Aggregated
neurofibrillary tangles and accumulated amyloid-beta(Aβ) are the defining pathological
hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is a composite and multifactorial
disease in which different factors concur with pathogenic factors. Prion disease is an
infectious neurodegenerative disease characterized by misfolded prion protein
accumulation in the brain and leads to nerve cell loss. Currently, different models have
been established to understand the pathophysiology of these diseases and are also used
to investigate new therapeutic compounds. Although various in-vivo models are used to
study neurodegenerative diseases, in vitro models provide more insights on various
pharmacological targets and mechanisms of disease during neurodegeneration. Human
and animal cells derived cell cultures are used to study neurodegenerative diseases in
order to accurately mimic brain environment and neuronal cell interactions. In vitro
models show the reliable effect of compounds on various targets in the brain to study
pathophysiological characteristics of the disease, and it also provides a controlled
environment favourable to explore single pathogenic mechanisms. In this chapter, we
discuss different in-vitro models used to study age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
Keywords: Alzheimer`s disease, in vitro models, Neurodegeneration, Parkinson`s
disease, Prions disease.
