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Chapter category: Neurodegenerative Disease

Aβ Degradation by Endothelin-Converting Enzymes

This chapter appears in the following book:

Ab Metabolism and Alzheimer's Disease

Edited by: Takaomi Saido
ISBN: 1-58706-230-5
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
Elizabeth A. Eckman and Christopher B. Eckman

The abnormal accumulation of β-amyloidloid (Aβ) in the brain is an early and invariant feature of Alzheimer's disease and is believed to play a pivotal role in the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease. The concentration of Aβ is regulated by multiple enzymatic activities, including proteases responsible for its degradation. In this chapter we present evidence for endothelinconverting enzymes (ECEs) as Aβ-degrading enzymes. Overexpression of ECE1 in cultured cells reduces Aβ accumulation by up to 90%, and the enzyme is capable of directly cleaving Aβ at multiple sites. As ECEs are expressed in brain, reduced ECE activity by genetic mutation, altered transcriptional activity, or pharmacological inhibition, for example, may be a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The risk of pharmacological reduction of ECE activity is of particular concern since ECE inhibitors are being developed for the treatment of hypertension and other disorders.

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