THE SURVIVAL OF RAT CEREBRAL CORTICAL-NEURONS IN THE PRESENCE OF TROPHIC APP PEPTIDES

One function of Alzheimer amyloid protein precursor (APP) is the regul ation of growth and differentiation in several types of cells, includi ng fibroblasts, PC12 cells, and neurons. This activity is represented by a small stretch of amino acids in the center of the molecule around RERMS. The APP 17-mer peptide containing the RERMS domain supported s urvival and neurite extension of rat cortical neurons in a dose-depend ent and sequence-specific manner. The APP fragment synthesized in Esch erichia coli supported the survival and neurite extension of rat corti cal neurons, whereas the mutant APP fragment lacking the 30 amino acid s around the RERMS domain had drastically reduced activity to support the survival and neurite extension. The current study established APP as a neuron survival factor and determined that the sequence around RE RMS is important for this function. (C) 1994 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.