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Caspase cleavage of APP results in a cytotoxic proteolytic peptide

Cleaveage of amyloid precursor protein by β- and γ- secretases is known to yield the peptide amyloid-β, which is suggested to be cytotoxic and has been associated with a number of neurdegenerative diseases. New findings suggest that caspases can also cleave APP to yield other peptides that initiate cell death by unknown mechanisms (pages 397–404 ).

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Figure 1: Schematic diagram of some of the events that have been demonstrated to contribute to neuronal death following loss of trophic support and/or severe or chronic exposure to metabolic stresses.

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Milligan, C. Caspase cleavage of APP results in a cytotoxic proteolytic peptide. Nat Med 6, 385–386 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/74644

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