Dear Colleagues,

Neurodegenerative diseases are a group of heterogeneous disorders caused by progressive neuron degeneration in the brain or peripheral nervous system. They affect patient quality of life and form serious health and economic burdens to affected subjects, their families and society. Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are among the most common neurodegenerative disorders. Most human neurodegenerative diseases are closely linked to aging. With the aging of our population, the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases increases significantly, posing serious challenges worldwide. While oxidative stress, protein aggregation, mitochondria impairment, disturbance of autophagic clearance and adverse neuroinflammation are recognized as key factors in neurodegeneration, the complete understanding of disease pathogenesis remains elusive. As of now, neurodegenerative diseases remain chronic and incurable conditions. Currently, there are no available therapies that can alleviate the progressive degeneration of neurons in patients. Neurodegenerative diseases are among the leading causes of human death. This situation is unacceptable, underscoring the need for extensive future research in this area. The identification and validation of biomarkers and therapeutic targets are vital, as new biomarkers and therapeutic targets can enhance our clinical practice of diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy development for these formidable disorders.

The aim of this Special Issue is to discuss novel disease biomarkers and molecular therapeutic targets that aim to protect against or alleviate neurodegeneration in human neurodegenerative disorders.

Dr. Zhi Dong Zhou
Guest Editor