The amyloid precursor protein (APP) is a transmembrane protein and the source of the amyloid beta-peptide that accumulates in plaques in the brain in Alzheimer's disease. However, the normal function(s) of APP are uncertain. In this episode I talk with Bassem Hassan, a developmental neurobiologist and molecular biologist at the Paris Brain Institute who has made major contributions that advance an understanding of the functions of specific genes in the processes of neurogenesis and the formation of neural networks. His research has provided evidence that APP normally functions in the regulation of brain development by influencing neuron progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation, and axon growth. These effects of APP on brain development involve facilitation of the well-known Wnt signaling pathway. Such findings suggest that genetic aberrancies that result in brain disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's may result from alterations in brain development that predispose to disease manifestation later in life.

LINKS

About Dr. Hassan:

https://parisbraininstitute.org/collaborators/hassan-bassem

Dr. Hassan's publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=F8ExcEsAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Articles on APP function discussed in this podcast:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10275593/pdf/sciadv.add5002.pdf

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8437438/pdf/elife-69199.pdf

https://journals.biologists.com/dev/article/141/13/2543/46288/Amyloid-precursor-protein-and-neural-development?guestAccessKey=

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/epdf/10.1152/physrev.1997.77.4.1081