Losing memory by protein cleavage

Abstract

Alzheimer's Disease Learning and remembering changes the shape of neurons. In mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, neurons do not undergo the morphological changes induced by learning and remembering and they also have defects in calcium signaling. Tong et al. found that forms of presenilin-1 (PS1) with familial Alzheimer's disease-associated mutations excessively cleaved and inactivated the calcium sensor STIM1. The cleavage of STIM1 by PS1 may contribute to the memory loss that is characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. Sci. Signal. 9 , ra89 (2016).