An increased percentage of long amyloid beta protein secreted by familial amyloid beta protein precursor (beta APP717) mutants.

Normal processing of the amyloid beta protein precursor (beta APP) results in secretion of a soluble 4-kilodalton protein essentially identical to the amyloid beta protein (A beta) that forms insoluble fibrillar deposits in Alzheimer's disease. Human neuroblastoma (M17) cells transfected with constructs expressing wild-type beta APP or the beta APP717 mutants linked to familial Alzheimer's disease were compared by (i) isolation of metabolically labeled 4-kilodalton A beta from conditioned medium, digestion with cyanogen bromide, and analysis of the carboxyl-terminal peptides released, or (ii) analysis of the A beta in conditioned medium with sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays that discriminate A beta 1-40 from the longer A beta 1-42. Both methods demonstrated that the 4-kilodalton A beta released from wild-type beta APP is primarily but not exclusively A beta 1-40. The beta APP717 mutations, which are located three residues carboxyl to A beta 43, consistently caused a 1.5- to 1.9-fold increase in the percentage of longer A beta generated. Long A beta (for example, A beta 1-42) forms insoluble amyloid fibrils more rapidly than A beta 1-40. Thus, the beta APP717 mutants may cause Alzheimer's disease because they secrete increased amounts of long A beta, thereby fostering amyloid deposition.