The central role of cholinergic system in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathway is becoming increasingly significant as reports linking the various components of cholinergic neurotransmission with the other pathological hallmarks emerge. This review, while addressing the molecular mechanisms associated with the pathological hallmarks of the disease and their close interactions, also makes an attempt to address the critical question that evades an answer: Given the significant role played by cholinergic system in AD pathway, why do the cholinergic-mechanism-based drugs are not successful in reversing or arresting the disease progress? Further, as molecules of diverse structural features were shown to inhibit amyloid aggregation, an understanding of the generic pathway of amyloid aggregation slowly emerges. For the first time, a coherent view of amyloid aggregation is presented in this review. The possible role of neuroinflammatory response in the events leading to the degeneration of cholinergic neurons is also discussed.

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Free radical bulk polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate (MMA) was carried out using a novel 'macroiniferter' which resulted in branched polymers with relatively narrow molecular weight distribution. This approach involving the novel macroiniferter; poly[3-(tbutylperoxy)propyl disulfide] (PBPPDS) that has side chain peroxide groups and main chain disulfide linkages was developed to prepare soluble branched polymers as well as to control the extent of branching in vinyl polymers synthesized via a free radical route. The synthesis, characterization and thermal degradation studies of PBPPDS are reported here for the first time. The resulting polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymers were characterized using gel permeation chromatography (GPC), intrinsic viscosity [h] measurements and the degree of branching was studied by the determination of g 0 factor. q

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