Alzheimer's α-secretase may be a calcium-dependent protease

Abstract

Proteolytic processing of β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) is believed to be fundamental to the understanding of Alzheimer's disease. The identities and the regulatory elements of the proteases involved in the process, known as α/β/γ secretases, are unclear. In this study, by examining reported data, we found some indications suggesting that the putative α-secretase may be a calcium-dependent protease, and that this enzyme may play a primary role in the regulation of APP processing. Based on this, we proposed a model for the membrane orientations of the secretases for further discussions.