title: Modeling of substrate specificity of the Alzheimer's disease amyloid precursor protein beta-secretase.
abstract: The enzyme BACE (beta-site APP-cleaving enzyme) has recently been identified as the beta-secretase that cleaves the amyloid precursor protein (APP) to produce the N terminus of the Abeta peptide found in plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients. BACE is an aspartic protease similar to pepsin and renin. Comparative modeling of the three-dimensional structure of BACE in complex with its substrate shows that several residues confer specificity of the enzyme for APP. In particular, Arg296 forms a salt-bridge with the P1' Asp of the APP substrate, explaining the unusual preference of BACE among aspartic proteases for a P1' residue that is negatively charged. Several hydrophobic residues in the enzyme form a pocket for the P1 hydrophobic residue (Met in wild-type APP and Leu in APP with the "Swedish mutation" associated with early-onset of Alzheimer's disease). Inhibitors that can bind to the BACE active site may prove useful for drugs to treat and prevent Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Fox Chase Cancer Center, Institute for Cancer Research, 7701 Burholme Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sauder
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Arthur
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Dunbrack
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000378:metabolism; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001665:Binding Sites; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D010450:Endopeptidases; D006801:Humans; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011487:Protein Conformation; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D055672:Static Electricity; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D001120:Arginine; D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; D010450:Endopeptidases; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; C509284:BACE2 protein, human; C509280:BACE1 protein, human