title: Alternative cleavage of Alzheimer-associated presenilins during apoptosis by a caspase-3 family protease.
abstract: Most cases of early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) are caused by mutations in the genes encoding the presenilin 1 (PS1) and PS2 proteins, both of which undergo regulated endoproteolytic processing. During apoptosis, PS1 and PS2 were shown to be cleaved at sites distal to their normal cleavage sites by a caspase-3 family protease. In cells expressing PS2 containing the asparagine-141 FAD mutant, the ratio of alternative to normal PS2 cleavage fragments was increased relative to wild-type PS2-expressing cells, suggesting a potential role for apoptosis-associated cleavage of presenilins in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Aging Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Pettingell
authors.forename: Y K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kovacs
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Tanzi
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones / Q000494:pharmacology; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005047:Etoposide / Q000494:pharmacology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000494:pharmacology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D053764:Presenilin-1; D053766:Presenilin-2; D051381:Rats; D019311:Staurosporine / Q000494:pharmacology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009842:Oligopeptides; D053764:Presenilin-1; D053766:Presenilin-2; C110772:benzoylcarbonyl-aspartyl-glutamyl-valyl-aspartyl-fluoromethyl ketone; C096713:benzyloxycarbonylvalyl-alanyl-aspartyl fluoromethyl ketone; D005047:Etoposide; C505410:Casp3 protein, rat; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; D019311:Staurosporine