APP (green, bottom) meets β-secretase (green, top) in lipid rafts (red).

Lipid rafts are bad news for those with Alzheimer's disease (AD). On page 113, Ehehalt et al. show that formation of the β-amyloid peptide (Aβ), which is tightly linked to AD, depends on the raft association of one of its creators.

The creating enzyme is β-secretase, which cleaves the amyloid precursor protein (APP) to release a product that is then processed into Aβ. Several recent lines of evidence suggest that cholesterol is somehow linked to Aβ production. For instance, high cholesterol levels are correlated with an increased likelihood of developing AD.

As cholesterol is found in membrane lipid rafts, the authors investigated whether APP and β-secretase were linked with these compartments. They found that, indeed, both proteins were found in lipid rafts. Further increasing the fraction of APP and β-secretase in lipid...

The Rockefeller University Press
2003
The Rockefeller University Press
2003
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