Take five--BACE and the gamma-secretase quartet conduct Alzheimer's amyloid beta-peptide generation
EMBO J 23(3): 483-8
Authors/Editors: |
Haass C |
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Publication Date: | 2004 |
Type of Publication: | Review |
In 1959, Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond revolutionized modern jazz music by composing their unforgettable Take Five in 5/4, one of the most defiant time signatures in all music. Of similar revolutionary importance for biomedical and basic biochemical research is the identification of the minimal set of genes required to obtain a deadly time bomb ticking in all of us: Alzheimer's disease. It now appears that one needs to Take Five genes to produce a deadly peptide by a proteolytic mechanism, which paradoxically is otherwise of pivotal importance for development and cell fate decisions.