Internal repeats of prion protein and AñPP, and reciprocal similarity with the amyloid-related proteins

Abstract

We are currently interested in a group of proteins associated with the dementias characterized by amyloid deposition in the brain: amyloid beta protein precursor (APPP) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the abnormal isoform of prion protein (PrP) of spongiform encephaloparhies such as kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) and Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease (GSSD). Here we show that both ApPP and prion protein (PrP) consist of peculiar internal repeats and share regions of sequence similarity. Further anabsis revealed that local homology is also shared with the other proteins involved in specific forms of amyloidosis-ie, the amyloid related proteins (ARP).