Editorial: New horizons in Alzheimer's disease research: combining cell, gene, and emerging therapies

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains one of the most urgent challenges in modern biomedicine. Despite substantial advances over decades in defining its pathological hallmarks, i.e., amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposition and tau pathology (1), and other key processes involved in disease pathogenesis such as neuroinflammation (2) and synaptic dysfunction (3), effective disease-modifying therapies remain limited. At the same time, the field has entered a more diversified phase, in which progresses are no longer driven by a single pathogenic hypothesis or therapeutic target. Instead, contemporary AD research increasingly brings together cellular mechanisms, molecular profiling, innovative disease models, and emerging interventions that extend beyond conventional pharmacology. The contributions in this Research Topic reflect this changing landscape and emphasize that further advances in AD will likely arise from the integration of such different research approaches. A central theme emerging from this Research Topic is the need to refine the biological frameworks through which AD is studied. [He et al.]() examine the intersection of genetic background and immune status as a basis for personalized immunotherapy in AD. By emphasizing the roles of APOE, which significantly contribute to develop a distinct genetic form of AD, immune biomarkers, and multi-omics integration, this review suggests that patient heterogeneity is not simply a clinical obstacle but an opportunity to design more precise and potentially more effective therapies. In particular, the review underscores how genetic risk and immune-state stratification may shape both disease trajectories and responsiveness to interventions, reinforcing the idea that precision medicine in AD will require more knowledge than amyloid or tau status alone. This perspective is especially timely as immunotherapeutic approaches continue to evolve and as the field seeks biomarkers capable of guiding patient selection and treatment monitoring ([He et al.]()). Importantly, progress toward biologically informed precision medicine also depends on the availability of experimental systems that can faithfully capture disease-relevant mechanisms.