A4, AAA, ABETA, ABPP, AD1, Alzheimer disease amyloid protein, amyloid beta (A4) precursor protein (peptidase nexin-II, Alzheimer disease), Amyloid beta A4 protein precursor, APPI, Cerebral vascular amyloid peptide, CTFgamma, CVAP, PN2, PN-II, PreA4, Protease nexin-II

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive loss of memory and cognition in the elderly. One of the most important and initial step involves proteolytic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP, chromosome 21) releasing short 40, 42 & 43 aa peptides (beta amyloid1-40,1-42, and 1-43; approx. 4.5kD). Polymerization of b-amyloid (Ab) and subsequent neuronal deposit (amyloid) leads to the degeneration of neurons involved in memory and cognition. Ab deposits have also been found to contain 2 additional proteins termed a-synuclein and b-synuclein.