title: Abnormalities of peptide metabolism in Alzheimer disease.
abstract: The steady-state level of peptide hormones represents a balance between their biosynthesis and proteolytic processing by convertases and their catabolism by proteolytic enzymes. Low levels of neuropeptide Y, somatostatin and corticotropin-releasing factor, described in Alzheimer disease (AD), were related to a defect in proteolytic processing of their protein precursors. In contrast the abundance of beta-amyloid peptides, the major protein constituents of senile plaques is likely related to inefficient catabolism. Therefore, attention is mainly focused on convertases that generate active peptides and counter-regulatory proteases that are involved in their catabolism. Some well-described proteases such as NEP are thought to be involved in beta-amyloid catabolism. The search of other possible candidates represents a primary effort in the field. A variety of vascular risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension and arteriosclerosis suggest that the functional vascular defect contributes to AD pathology. It has also been described that beta-amyloid peptides potentiate endothelin-1 induced vasoconstriction. In this review, we will critically evaluate evidence relating proteases implicated in amyloid protein precursor proteolytic processing and beta-amyloid catabolism.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hypertension and Vascular Medicine, CHU Vaudois, CH-1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Maï
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Panchal
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rholam
authors.forename: Noureddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brakch
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism; D010450:Endopeptidases; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D019332:Endothelin-1; D010455:Peptides; D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; D010450:Endopeptidases; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; C509280:BACE1 protein, human