Stable insertion of Alzheimer Aβ peptide into the ER membrane strongly correlates with its length

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the deposition of amyloid P-peptide (All) plaques in the brain. Full-length amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP) is processed by alpha- and beta-secretases to yield soluble APP derivatives and membrane-bound C-terminal fragments, which are further processed by gamma-secretase to a non-amyloidogenic 3 kDa product or to All fragments. As different A beta fragments contain different parts of the APP transmembrane helix, one may speculate that they are retained more or less efficiently in the membrane. Here, we use the translocon-mediated insertion of different APP-derived polypeptide segments into the endoplasmic reticulum membrane to assess the propensities for membrane retention of All fragments. Our results show a strong correlation between the length of an A beta-derived segment and its ability to integrate into the microsomal membrane. (c) 2007 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.