Endoproteolytic cleavage of FE65 converts the adaptor protein to a potent suppressor of the sAPPalpha pathway in primates.

Adaptor protein FE65 (APBB1) specifically binds to the intracellular tail of the type I transmembrane protein, beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP). The formation of this complex may be important for modulation of the processing and function of APP. APP is proteolytically cleaved at multiple sites. The cleavages and their regulation are of central importance in the pathogenesis of dementias of the Alzheimer type. In cell cultures and perhaps in vivo, secretion of the alpha-cleaved APP ectodomain (sAPPalpha) is the major pathway in the most cells. Regulation of the process may require extracellular/intracellular cues. Neither extracellular ligands nor intracellular mediators have been identified, however. Here, we show novel evidence that the major isoform of FE65 (97-kDa FE65, p97FE65) can be converted to a 65-kDa N-terminally truncated C-terminal fragment (p65FE65) via endoproteolysis. The cleavage region locates immediately after an acidic residue cluster but before the three major protein-protein binding domains. The cleavage activity is particularly high in human and non-human primate cells and low in rodent cells; the activity appears to be triggered/enhanced by high cell density, presumably via cell-cell/cell-substrate contact cues. As a result, p65FE65 exhibits extraordinarily high affinity for APP (up to 40-fold higher than p97FE65) and potent suppression (up to 90%) of secretion of sAPPalpha. Strong p65FE65-APP binding is required for the suppression. The results suggest that p65FE65 may be an intracellular mediator in a signaling cascade regulating alpha-secretion of APP, particularly in primates.