TY - JOUR
T1 - The β-secretase enzyme BACE in health and Alzheimer's disease
T2 - Regulation, cell biology, function, and therapeutic potential
AU - Vassar, Robert
AU - Kovacs, Dora M.
AU - Yan, Riqiang
AU - Wong, Philip C.
PY - 2009/10/14
Y1 - 2009/10/14
N2 - The β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide is the major constituent of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain and is likely to play a central role in the pathogenesis of this devastating neurodegenerative disorder. The β-secretase, β-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme (BACE1; also called Asp2, memapsin 2), is the enzyme responsible for initiating Aβ generation. Thus, BACE is a prime drug target for the therapeutic inhibition of Aβ production in AD. Since its discovery 10 years ago, much has been learned about BACE. This review summarizes BACE properties, describes BACE translation dysregulation in AD, and discusses BACE physiological functions in sodium current, synaptic transmission, myelination, and schizophrenia. The therapeutic potential of BACE will also be considered. This is a summary of topics covered at a symposium held at the 39th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and is not meant to be a comprehensive review of BACE.
AB - The β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide is the major constituent of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain and is likely to play a central role in the pathogenesis of this devastating neurodegenerative disorder. The β-secretase, β-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme (BACE1; also called Asp2, memapsin 2), is the enzyme responsible for initiating Aβ generation. Thus, BACE is a prime drug target for the therapeutic inhibition of Aβ production in AD. Since its discovery 10 years ago, much has been learned about BACE. This review summarizes BACE properties, describes BACE translation dysregulation in AD, and discusses BACE physiological functions in sodium current, synaptic transmission, myelination, and schizophrenia. The therapeutic potential of BACE will also be considered. This is a summary of topics covered at a symposium held at the 39th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and is not meant to be a comprehensive review of BACE.
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U2 - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3657-09.2009
DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3657-09.2009
M3 - Article
C2 - 19828790
AN - SCOPUS:70350455062
SN - 0270-6474
VL - 29
SP - 12787
EP - 12794
JO - Journal of Neuroscience
JF - Journal of Neuroscience
IS - 41
ER -