Contribution of Kunitz protease inhibitor and transmembrane domains to amyloid precursor protein homodimerization

The two major isoforms of the human amyloid precursor protein (APP) are APP695 and APP751. They differ by the insertion of a Kunitz-type protease inhibitor (KPI) sequence in the extracellular domain of APP751. APP-KPI isoforms are increased in Alzheimer's disease brains, and they could be associated with disease progression. Recent studies have shown that APP processing to Aβ is regulated by homodimerization, which involves both extracellular and juxtamembrane/transmembrane (JM/TM) regions. OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to understand the mechanisms controlling APP dimerization and the contribution of the ectodomain and JM/TM regions to this process. METHODS: We used bimolecular fluorescence complementation approaches coupled to fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis to measure the dimerization level of different APP isoforms and APP C-terminal fragments (C99) mutated in their JM/TM region. RESULTS: APP751 was found to form significantly more homodimers than APP695. Mutation of dimerization motifs in the TM domain of APP or C99 did not significantly affect fluorescence complementation. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that the KPI domain plays a major role in APP dimerization. They set the basis for further investigation of the relation between dimerization, metabolism and function of APP. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel