A high-throughput screen to identify inhibitors of amyloid beta-protein precursor processing.
Cerebral accumulation of the amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) is believed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Because Abeta is produced from the proteolysis of amyloid beta-protein precursor (APP) by beta-and gamma-secretases, these enzymes are considered important drug targets for AD. The authors have developed a luciferase-based reporter system that can identify new molecules that inhibit APP processing in a high-throughput manner. Such molecules can help in understanding the biology of APP and APP processing and in developing new drug prototypes for AD. In this system, APP is fused on its C-terminus with Gal4-VP16, a chimeric yeast-viral transcription activator, and luciferase is under control of the yeast Gal4 promoter. Compounds that modulate the luciferase signal may affect the secretases directly, interact with modifiers of these proteases, or interact with APP directly. The authors successfully interfaced this assay with a high-throughput screen, testing approximately 60,000 compounds with diverse chemical structures. In principle, this sensitive, specific, and quantitative assay may be useful for identifying both inhibitors and stimulators of APP processing.
Bakshi
Pancham
P
Center for Neurologic Diseases and Laboratory for Drug Discovery in Neurodegeneration, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Liao
Yung-Feng
YF
Gao
Jun
J
Ni
Jake
J
Stein
Ross
R
Yeh
Li-An
LA
Wolfe
Michael S
MS
D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods*; D010450:Endopeptidases; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational / Q000187:drug effects*; D014162:Transfection
D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; D010450:Endopeptidases; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; C509280:BACE1 protein, human