What the evolution of the amyloid protein precursor supergene family tells us about its function

Abstract

The Alzheimer's disease amyloid protein precursor (APP) gene is part of a multi-gene super-family from which sixteen homologous amyloid precursor- like proteins (APLP) and APP species homologues have been isolated and characterised. Comparison of exon structure (including the uncharacterised APL-1 gene), construction of phylogenetic trees, and analysis of the protein sequence alignment of known homologues of the APP super-family were performed to reconstruct the evolution of the family and to assess the functional significance of conserved protein sequences between homologues. This analysis supports an adhesion function for all members of the APP super family, with specificity determined by ..