page_title: Amyloid precursor protein
section_title: Structure
hierarchical_section_title: Amyloid precursor protein / Structure
caption_attribution_description: The dimerized form of the human amyloid precursor protein (APP) E2 domain, a dimeric coiled-coil.
context_page_description: Amyloid precursor protein is an integral membrane protein expressed in many tissues and concentrated in the synapses of neurons. Its primary function is not known, though it has been implicated as a regulator of synapse formation, neural plasticity, antimicrobial activity, and iron export. APP is best known as the precursor molecule whose proteolysis generates amyloid beta, a polypeptide containing 37 to 49 amino acid residues, whose amyloid fibrillar form is the primary component of amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients.
context_section_description: A number of distinct, largely independently-folding structural domains have been identified in the APP sequence. The extracellular region, much larger than the intracellular region, is divided into the E1 and E2 domains, linked by an acidic domain (AcD); E1 contains two subdomains including a growth factor-like domain (GFLD) and a copper-binding domain (CuBD) interacting tightly together. A serine protease inhibitor domain, absent from the isoform differentially expressed in the brain, is found between acidic region and E2 domain. The complete crystal structure of APP has not yet been solved; however, individual domains have been successfully crystallized, the growth factor-like domain, the copper-binding domain, the complete E1 domain and the E2 domain.
caption: The extracellular E2 domain, a dimeric coiled coil and one of the most highly conserved regions of the protein from Drosophila to humans. This domain, which resembles the structure of spectrin, is thought to bind heparan sulfate proteoglycans.[20]
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