New therapeutic target identified for Alzheimer's disease

摘要

A team of scientists has reported that cathepsin B (CatB) gene knockout, or its reduction by an enzyme inhibitor, blocks the creation of key neurotoxic pGlu-Ap peptides, which are linked to Alzheimer's disease (AD).pGlu-Ap peptides are N-terminally truncated forms of full-length Ap peptides (flAP(140/42)), in which the N-terminal glutamate is cyclized to pyrogluta-mate to generate pGlu-AP 0 . P-secretase cleavage of amyloid-P precursor protein (APPP) produces flAP(1 _40/42), but it was not yet known whether the p-secretase BACE1 or the alternative P-secretase CatB participate in the production of pGlu-Ap.