Figure 1

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) mutations. (a) The APP transmembrane domain (TMD) extends from the glycine in position 700 to the lysine in position 723. The Aβ42 peptide isoform is highlighted in yellow. Depicted by arrows are the β-secretase (BACE1) cleavage site, the γ-secretase cleavage sites generating Aβ40 and Aβ42, and the ε-cleavage sites. According to the sequential cleavage model, ε-cleavage is the initiating event for the stepwise generation of Aβ peptides, which proceeds from the ε-site to the γ-cleavage sites and reflects the periodicity of the APP TMD α-helix. Amino acid exchanges causative of either familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) or cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) are shown below the peptide sequence. (b) Timeline of the discovery of APP mutations (see also [55]).