PUBLICATION

Modeling of substrate specificity of the Alzheimer's disease amyloid precursor protein beta-secretase

Authors
Sauder, J.M., Arthur, J.W., and Dunbrack, R.L. Jr.
ID
ZDB-PUB-100302-25
Date
2000
Source
Journal of molecular biology   300(2): 241-248 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
BACE, APP, Alzheimer’s disease, aspartic protease, homology modeling
MeSH Terms
  • Alzheimer Disease/enzymology*
  • Alzheimer Disease/genetics
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases
  • Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor/chemistry
  • Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor/metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Arginine/metabolism
  • Aspartic Acid/metabolism
  • Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases/chemistry*
  • Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases/genetics
  • Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases/metabolism*
  • Binding Sites
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Endopeptidases
  • Humans
  • Hydrogen Bonding
  • Models, Molecular*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutation
  • Protein Conformation
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Static Electricity
  • Substrate Specificity
PubMed
10873463 Full text @ J. Mol. Biol.
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.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping