1. Academic Validation
  2. Characterization of insulin-degrading enzyme-mediated cleavage of Aβ in distinct aggregation states

Characterization of insulin-degrading enzyme-mediated cleavage of Aβ in distinct aggregation states

  • Biochim Biophys Acta. 2016 Jun;1860(6):1281-90. doi: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2016.03.010.
Ellen Hubin 1 Federica Cioffi 2 Jef Rozenski 3 Nico A J van Nuland 4 Kerensa Broersen 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Nanobiophysics Group, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiteit Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands; Structural Biology Brussels, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; Structural Biology Research Center, VIB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
  • 2 Nanobiophysics Group, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiteit Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
  • 3 Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
  • 4 Structural Biology Brussels, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; Structural Biology Research Center, VIB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 5 Nanobiophysics Group, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiteit Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract

To enhance our understanding of the potential therapeutic utility of insulin-degrading Enzyme (IDE) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), we studied in vitro IDE-mediated degradation of different amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide aggregation states. Our findings show that IDE activity is driven by the dynamic equilibrium between Aβ monomers and higher ordered aggregates. We identify Met(35)-Val(36) as a novel IDE cleavage site in the Aβ sequence and show that Aβ fragments resulting from IDE cleavage form non-toxic amorphous aggregates. These findings need to be taken into account in therapeutic strategies designed to increase Aβ clearance in AD patients by modulating IDE activity.

Keywords

Aggregation; Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid-beta; Aβ cleavage; Insulin-degrading enzyme; Neprilysin.

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