- Comment in:
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Nature. 2000 Sep 7;407(6800):34-5.
Nicastrin modulates presenilin-mediated notch/glp-1 signal transduction and betaAPP processing.
Yu G,
Nishimura M,
Arawaka S,
Levitan D,
Zhang L,
Tandon A,
Song YQ,
Rogaeva E,
Chen F,
Kawarai T,
Supala A,
Levesque L,
Yu H,
Yang DS,
Holmes E,
Milman P,
Liang Y,
Zhang DM,
Xu DH,
Sato C,
Rogaev E,
Smith M,
Janus C,
Zhang Y,
Aebersold R,
Farrer LS,
Sorbi S,
Bruni A,
Fraser P,
St George-Hyslop P.
Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, Toronto Western Hospital, and Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Nicastrin, a transmembrane glycoprotein, forms high molecular weight complexes with presenilin 1 and presenilin 2. Suppression of nicastrin expression in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos induces a subset of notch/glp-1 phenotypes similar to those induced by simultaneous null mutations in both presenilin homologues of C. elegans (sel-12 and hop-1). Nicastrin also binds carboxy-terminal derivatives of beta-amyloid precursor protein (betaAPP), and modulates the production of the amyloid beta-peptide (A beta) from these derivatives. Missense mutations in a conserved hydrophilic domain of nicastrin increase A beta42 and A beta40 peptide secretion. Deletions in this domain inhibit A beta production. Nicastrin and presenilins are therefore likely to be functional components of a multimeric complex necessary for the intramembranous proteolysis of proteins such as Notch/GLP-1 and betaAPP.
PMID: 10993067 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]