Levels of α- and β-secretase cleaved amyloid precursor protein in the cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer's disease patients

Abstract

Alternative cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) results in generation and secretion of both soluble APP (sAPP) and β-amyloid (A β). A β is the main component of the amyloid depositions in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Using Western blotting, we compared the levels of α-secretase cleaved sAPP, β-secretase cleaved sAPP and total sAPP, in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 13 sporadic AD patients and 13 healthy controls. Our findings show significant amounts of β-secretase cleaved sAPP in CSF. There was no statistically significant difference in the levels of β-secretase cleaved sAPP between AD patients and controls. The levels of α-secretase cleaved sAPP and total sAPP were, however, found to be significantly lower in the AD patients than in the controls.