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. 2019 Feb 11;11:14. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2019.00014

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Copyright © 2019 Fernandez, Hamby, McReynolds and Ray.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Impaired lipid transport capacity of astrocytic APOE4 sensitizes neurons to degeneration during aging. Astrocytes (red) expressing APOE3 supply normal levels of cholesterol and other lipids to the cells of the brain, particularly to neurons (yellow), maintaining healthy neuronal function and cognition. Astrocytes expressing APOE4 are less inefficient at lipid transport, which, compounded with aging-associated lipid dysregulation, leads to neurodegeneration (neuron with rough edges) and is expected to predispose APOE4 carriers to Alzheimer’s disease (AD).