Presenilin-1
Presenilin-1 '' is a presenilin protein that in humans is encoded by the PSEN1 gene. Presenilin-1 is one of the four core proteins in the gamma secretase complex, which is considered to play an important role in generation of amyloid beta from amyloid-beta precursor protein. Accumulation of amyloid beta is associated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
Structure
Presenilin possesses a 9 transmembrane domain topology, with an extracellular C-terminus and a cytosolic N-terminus. Presenilin undergoes endo-proteolytic processing to produce ~27-28 kDa N-terminal and ~16-17 kDa C-terminal fragments in humans. Furthermore, presenilin exists in the cell mainly as a heterodimer of the C-terminal and N-terminus fragments. When presenilin 1 is overexpressed, the full length protein accumulates in an inactive form. Based on evidence that a gamma-secretase inhibitor binds to the fragments, the cleaved presenilin complex is considered to be the active form.Function
Presenilins are postulated to regulate APP processing through their effects on gamma secretase, an enzyme that cleaves APP. Also, it is thought that the presenilins are involved in the cleavage of the Notch receptor, such that they either directly regulate gamma secretase activity or themselves are protease enzymes. Multiple alternatively spliced transcript variants have been identified for this gene, the full-length natures of only some have been determined.Notch signaling pathway
In Notch signaling, critical proteolytic reactions takes place during maturation and activation of Notch membrane receptor. Notch1 is cleaved extracellularlly at site1 and two polypeptides are produced to form a heterodimer receptor on the cell surface. After the formation of receptor, Notch1 is further cleaved in site 3 and release Notch1 intracellular domain from the membrane.Presenilin 1 has been shown to play an important role in proteolytic process. In the prenilin 1 null mutant drosophila, Notch signaling is abolished and it displays a notch-like lethal phenotype. Moreover, in mammalian cells, deficiency of PSEN1 also causes the defect in the proteolytic release of NICD from a truncated Notch construct. The same step can be also blocked by several gamma-secretase inhibitors, shown in the same study. These evidences collectively suggest a critical role of presenilin 1 in the Notch signaling pathway.
Wnt signaling pathway
Wnt signaling pathway has been shown to be involved in several critical steps in embryogenesis and development. Presenilin 1 has been shown to form a complex with beta-catenin, an important component in Wnt signaling, and stabilize beta-catenin. Mutant of presenilin-1 that reduces the ability to stabilize beta-catenin complex leads to hyperactive degradation of beta-catenin in the brains of transgenic mice.Considered as a negative regulator in Wnt signaling pathway, presenilin-1 was also found to play a role in beta-catenin phosphorylation. Beta-catenin is coupled by presenilin-1 and undergoes a sequential phosphorylation by two kinase activities. The study also further illustrates that the deficiency of presenilin 1 disconnects the sequential phosphorylation and thus disrupts the normal wnt signaling pathway.