Advances on mechanisms of regulated cell death in neurotoxicity of aluminum

Aluminum is a light metal which is rich in the earth's crust and widely used. Recently, the adverse health effects of environmental and occupational aluminum exposure on human have attracted more and more attention. Aluminum exposure has toxic effects on the central nervous system and is believed to be closely related to the development and progression of Alzheimer's disease. The neurotoxic mechanism of aluminum is complex, especially the role of regulated cell death (RCD) in aluminum-induced neuronal death remains to be further studied. RCD refers to all modes of cell death regulated by multiple intracellular signal transduction pathways under physiological and pathological conditions, including apoptosis, necroptosis, autophagy, pyroptosis, and ferroptosis. This review summarized the morphological characteristics and mechanisms of each RCD mode in the process of aluminum-induced neuronal death, and discussed the relationship and transformation between different RCD modes, providing a new scientific basis for future studies on the treatment and intervention of neurotoxicity induced by aluminum exposure.