A major hallmark of Alzheimer's disease is the accumulation in the brain of amyloid-β peptide. This is generated by γ-secretase, which is thus of interest as a target for drugs to prevent amyloid-β accumulation. A problem is that γ-secretase has other substrates, including Notch, important in development. Here, a γ-secretase activating protein is identified that increases amyloid-β production without affecting Notch. Thus this protein can serve as an amyloid-β-lowering drug target without affecting other functions of γ-secretase.
- Gen He
- Wenjie Luo
- Paul Greengard
