title: apl-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a protein related to the human beta-amyloid protein precursor.
abstract: The major component of senile plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer disease patients is the beta-amyloid peptide, which is derived from a larger amyloid precursor protein (APP). Recently, a number of APP and APP-related proteins have been identified in different organisms and constitute the family of APP proteins. We have isolated several cDNAs encoding an APP-related protein in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and have designated the corresponding gene as apl-1. The apl-1 transcripts undergo two forms of posttranscriptional modification: trans-splicing and alternative polyadenylylation. In vitro translation of an apl-1 cDNA results in a protein of approximately the expected size. Similar to the Drosophila, human, and mouse APP-related proteins, APL-1 does not appear to contain the beta-amyloid peptide. Because APP-related proteins seem to be conserved through evolution, the apl-1 gene from C. elegans should be important for determining the normal function of human APP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Boston University, MA 02215.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Daigle
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: C084891:APL-1 protein, C elegans; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals