3-Secretase

APP undergoes proteolytic processing by several secretases. First, the bulk of the ectodomain needs to be removed by membrane-bound a- or (3-secretases leading to secreted forms of APP and membrane-bound C-terminal fragments a-CTF or (3-CTF, respectively. Regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP) of the (3-CTF by y-secretase occurs only after ectodomain shedding and releases the A(3 pqrtide from the membrane (Fig. 2). 

Dtugs in clinical development that directly target the A(3 pathway are at an early stage. Inhibitors of (3- and y-secretases that can lower the A 3 production have entered clinical phase trials with (3-secretase inhibitors being years behind the development of y-secretase inhibitors. Functional y-secretase inhibitors have been shown to reduce the rate of A 3 formation in vitro and in vivo. The reduction of A 3 monomer levels could prevent oligomer formation and subsequent syn-aptotoxicity. Numerous anti-amyloid approaches to... 

Alzheimer s Disease. Figure 2 A(3 is derived from the APP by the sequential action of proteolytic activities exerted by (3- and y-secretases. APP-CTF is (C99) produced after cleavage of the APP by (3-secretase and represents the substrate of the y-secretase. The yellow box marks membrane embedded amino acid residues of A(3 peptide. Scissors represent the main cleavage sites of (3- and y-secretase, e.g. the e- and y-cleavages at positions 49,46, 42, 40 and 38. 

AA A1 A01.041 Memapsin-1 Candidate beta-secretase in Alzheimer s disease... 

AD A22 A22.001 Presen ilin 1 Gamma-secretase of Alzheimer s disease, and a drug target... 

The enzymes that are involved in the processing of APP into amyloid peptides are known as secretases. Beta-secretase is an enzyme that catalyzes the initial proteolytic event leading to the production of Abeta amyloid peptides. If APP is cleaved by beta-secretase it can then be further cleaved by gamma-secretase. Abeta peptides are either secreted or intracellularly released. They have varying lengths and represent intermediate degradation products of its precursor (i.e., (3-secretase cleaved APP). Especially the 42 amino acid peptide (A 342) aggregates to form insoluble amyloid plaques. 

Alzheimer s disease in which the pathogenicity of amyloid peptides depends on proteases, namely secretases, involved in amyloid precursor protein (APP) maturation. This chapter will describe how the proteolysis of chemokines might participate in the neuropathogenesis of HIV infection, thus contributing to the development of the central nervous system disorder termed HIV-associated dementia (HAD). 

APP is normally cleaved within the A/1 sequence by an unidentified protease, so-called a-secretase, so that most of the extracellular APP is released in a soluble form into the extracellular fluid (see Checler 1995). When jS-amyloid is formed another protease (jS) splits APP so that the complete A/1 sequence persists at the extracellular end of the remaining membrane and intracellular APP chain. This is then cleaved by anaother protease (y-secretase) to release the jS-amyloid (Fig. 18.5). Potentiation of a-or blockage of jS- and y-secretase could reduce the production of A/1 which becomes insoluble and is precipitated (see Hardy 1997). 

Figure 18.5 Schematic representation of possible cleavage sites of APP by a, and y-secretase and the production of j5-amyloid protein. (I) This shows the disposition of APP molecules in 695, 751 and 770 amino-acid chain lengths. Much of it is extracellular. The /1-amyloid (A/I4) sequence is partly extracellular and partly in the membrane. (II) An enlargement of the /1-amyloid sequence. (Ill) Normal cleavage of APP by a-secretase occurs in the centre of A/I4 sequence to release the extracellular APP while the remaining membrane and intracellular chain is broken down by y-secretase to give two short proteins that are quickly broken down. (IV) In Alzheimer s disease ji rather than a-secretase activity splits off the extracellular APP to leave the full AP4 sequence remaining attached to the residual membrane and intracellular chain. 42/43 amino acid )S-amyloid sequence is then split off by y-secretase activity...

These must be worthwhile objectives and the recent identification by a number of research groups (see Skovronsky and Lee 2000 for description and details) of P-secretase as the membrane-bound aspartyl protease (RACE), S-site APP cleaving enzyme, paves the way for developing possible chemical inhibitors of its activity for experimental and clinical evaluation, although that remains for the future. 

Skovronsky, DM and Lee, VM-Y (2000) -secretase revealed starting gate for race to novel therapies for Alzheimer s disease. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 21 161-163. 

BACE-1 (p-secretase) is one of the enzymes involved in breaking down APP to produce Ap (amyloid p-peptide, Ap40>42), the protein that eventually oligomerizes to form Ap plaques, the hallmark of Alzheimer s disease (AD). Thus an agent that... 

Figure 8.20 (A) Generic chemical structure of the y-secretase inhibitors described by Seiffert et al. (2000). (B) y-Secretase inhibitor incorporating a benzophenone photoaffinity label for crosslinking studies.

Yu N et al (2006) Assigning the protonation states of the key aspartates in beta-secretase using QM/MM X-ray structure refinement. J Chem Theory Comput 2(4) 1057-1069... 

Zhang, D., Hanson, R., Roongta, V. et al. (2006) In vitro and in vivo metabolism of a gamma-secretase inhibitor BMS-299897 and generation of active metabolites in milligram quantities with a microbial bioreactor. Current Drug Metabolism, 7, 883-896. 

Inhibition of amyloid secretases In late preclinical development... 

The sustained attractiveness of photolabeling is apparent from its prominence in studies of y-secretase, an intramembrane protease that contributes to forming amyloid-p peptides and is a major target in Alzheimer s disease [60-62]. y-Secretase is a complex of at least four different polypeptides, and is difficult to engage with high-resolution structural methods. However, in a case of this kind that involves a known target, immunodetection of proteins can often specify the target of y-secretase inhibitor photoaffinity probes such as 19, and proteomic mass spectrometry is not needed. 

Table 2 Effects of fluorine on the properties of gamma-secretase inhibitors... 

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