Rapid progress in deciphering the biological mechanism of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has arisen from the application of molecular and cell biology to this complex disorder of the limbic and association cortices. In turn, new insights into fundamental aspects of protein biology have resulted from research on the disease. This beneficial interplay between basic and applied cell biology is well illustrated by advances in understanding the genotype-to-phenotype relationships of familial Alzheimer's disease. All four genes definitively linked to inherited forms of the disease to date have been shown to increase the production and/or deposition of amyloid β-protein in the brain. In particular, evidence that the presenilin proteins, mutations in which cause the most aggressive form of inherited AD, lead to altered intramembranous cleavage of the β-amyloid precursor protein by the protease called γ-secretase has spurred progress toward novel therapeutics. The finding that presenilin itself may be the long-sought γ-...

Alzheimer's Disease: Genes, Proteins, and Therapy

Notch signaling defines an evolutionarily ancient cell interaction mechanism, which plays a fundamental role in metazoan development. Signals exchanged between neighboring cells through the Notch receptor can amplify and consolidate molecular differences, which eventually dictate cell fates. Thus, Notch signals control how cells respond to intrinsic or extrinsic developmental cues that are necessary to unfold specific developmental programs. Notch activity affects the implementation of differentiation, proliferation, and apoptotic programs, providing a general developmental tool to influence organ formation and morphogenesis.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/284/5415/770.full.pdf

Notch Signaling: Cell Fate Control and Signal Integration in Development

The Canonical Notch Signaling Pathway: Unfolding the Activation Mechanism

Signalling through the receptor protein Notch, which is involved in crucial cell-fate decisions during development, requires ligand-induced cleavage of Notch. This cleavage occurs within the predicted transmembrane domain, releasing the Notch intracellular domain (NICD), and is reminiscent of gamma-secretase-mediated cleavage of beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP), a critical event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. A deficiency in presenilin-1 (PS1) inhibits processing of APP by gamma-secretase in mammalian cells, and genetic interactions between Notch and PS1 homologues in Caenorhabditis elegans indicate that the presenilins may modulate the Notch signalling pathway. Here we report that, in mammalian cells, PS1 deficiency also reduces the proteolytic release of NICD from a truncated Notch construct, thus identifying the specific biochemical step of the Notch signalling pathway that is affected by PS1. Moreover, several gamma-secretase inhibitors block this same step in Notch processing, indicating that related protease activities are responsible for cleavage within the predicted transmembrane domains of Notch and APP. Thus the targeting of gamma-secretase for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease may risk toxicity caused by reduced Notch signalling.

A presenilin-1-dependent gamma-secretase-like protease mediates release of Notch intracellular domain.

Accumulation of the amyloid-beta protein (Abeta) in the cerebral cortex is an early and invariant event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. The final step in the generation of Abeta from the beta-amyloid precursor protein is an apparently intramembranous proteolysis by the elusive gamma-secretase(s). The most common cause of familial Alzheimer's disease is mutation of the genes encoding presenilins 1 and 2, which alters gamma-secretase activity to increase the production of the highly amyloidogenic Abeta42 isoform. Moreover, deletion of presenilin-1 in mice greatly reduces gamma-secretase activity, indicating that presenilin-1 mediates most of this proteolytic event. Here we report that mutation of either of two conserved transmembrane (TM) aspartate residues in presenilin-1, Asp 257 (in TM6) and Asp 385 (in TM7), substantially reduces Abeta production and increases the amounts of the carboxy-terminal fragments of beta-amyloid precursor protein that are the substrates of gamma-secretase. We observed these effects in three different cell lines as well as in cell-free microsomes. Either of the Asp --> Ala mutations also prevented the normal endoproteolysis of presenilin-1 in the TM6 --> TM7 cytoplasmic loop. In a functional presenilin-1 variant (carrying a deletion in exon 9) that is associated with familial Alzheimer's disease and which does not require this cleavage, the Asp 385 --> Ala mutation still inhibited gamma-secretase activity. Our results indicate that the two transmembrane aspartate residues are critical for both presenilin-1 endoproteolysis and gamma-secretase activity, and suggest that presenilin 1 is either a unique diaspartyl cofactor for gamma-secretase or is itself gamma-secretase, an autoactivated intramembranous aspartyl protease.

Two transmembrane aspartates in presenilin-1 required for presenilin endoproteolysis and gamma-secretase activity.

Notch proteins are ligand-activated transmembrane receptors involved in cell-fate selection throughout development1,2,3. No known enzymatic activity is contained within Notch and the molecular mechanism by which it transduces signals across the cell membrane is poorly understood. In many instances, Notch activation results in transcriptional changes in the nucleus through an association with members of the CSL family of DNA-binding proteins (where CSL stands for CBF1, Su(H), Lag-1)1,2,3,4. As Notch is located in the plasma membrane and CSL is a nuclear protein, two models have been proposed to explain how they interact (Fig. 1) . The first suggests that the two interact transiently at the membrane1,5,6,7. The second postulates that Notch is cleaved by a protease, enabling the cleaved fragment to enter the nucleus6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14. Here we show that signalling by a constitutively active membrane-bound Notch-1 protein requires the proteolytic release of the Notch intracellular domain (NICD), which interacts preferentially with CSL. Very small amounts of NICD are active, explaining why it is hard to detect in the nucleus in vivo. We also show that it is ligand binding that induces release of NICD.

Notch-1 signalling requires ligand-induced proteolytic release of intracellular domain.

The enteroendocrine cell system of the mammalian gastrointestinal tract is comprised of at least 16 different subpopulations. Each subpopulation shows a characteristic distribution along both the crypt-villus and cephalo-caudal axes. In both the small intestine and colon of adult mice, multilabel immunohistochemistry has demonstrated that two or more neuroendocrine products can be coexpressed in various combinations in single cells along the crypt-villus axis, suggesting that enteroendocrine phenotypes may be actively regulated. Using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation and multilabel immunohistochemistry, we have previously demonstrated an enteroendocrine cell differentiation pathway consisting of two subpopulations of cells in the mouse proximal small intestine--one involving the sequential expression of substance P, serotonin, and secretin in cells migrating out of the crypts into the villi, and a second involving the expression of substance P and serotonin in cells which remain in the crypts. In this report, we use double label immunohistochemistry and BrdU incorporation to define the temporal and spatial interrelationships between gastrin, cholecystokinin (CCK), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP) immunoreactive cells in the mouse proximal small intestine. The expression of these products was compared with that of substance P, serotonin, and secretin. Minimal overlap of expression was found in cells immunoreactive for substance P or serotonin with gastrin, CCK, GLP-1, or GIP; however, secretin was found colocalized in villus-associated gastrin, CCK, and GLP-1 containing cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aja.1002010107

Jeffrey A. Kisslinger

Papers

Notch-1 signalling requires ligand-induced proteolytic release of intracellular domain.

Immunohistochemical studies indicate multiple enteroendocrine cell differentiation pathways in the mouse proximal small intestine