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Science 27 October 2006:
Vol. 314. no. 5799, p. 561
DOI: 10.1126/science.314.5799.561j
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This Week in Science

Figure 1 beta-Secretase activity is crucial in the production of pathological beta-amyloid in Alzheimer's disease. However, its role in normal physiology is unclear, especially given the absence of an obvious phenotype in a knockout mouse for BACE1 (beta-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme 1). Willem et al. (p. 664, published online 21 September; see the Perspective by Glabe) found that BACE1 (but not its close homolog BACE2) is required for neuregulin (NRG)-mediated peripheral nerve myelination. NRG1 was an in vivo substrate of BACE1, and the BACE-1 knockout mouse fully phenocopied hypomyelination observed in NRG1 heterozygous mutant mice. Thus, BACE-1 plays a physiological role during development in myelination.

CREDIT: WILLEM ET AL.




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