image: Mutations in PSEN1 and PSEN2, the enzymatic components of gamma-secretase, increase the rate of production of Aβ42 peptides (yellow arrow). The soluble Aβ peptides may be irreversibly lost (red arrows) by retrograde transport across the blood brain barrier, transfer into the CSF, or by degradation within the brain. The soluble Aβ peptides may also be deposited into plaques, either directly or via a reversible exchange process (blue arrows). The reversible exchange process is kinetically distinct from the irreversible losses. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the June 12, 2013, issue of Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS. The paper, by Dr. R. Potter at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., and colleagues was titled, "Increased in Vivo Amyloid-β42 Production, Exchange, and Irreversible Loss in Presenilin Mutations Carriers." view more
Credit: Randall Bateman/Familial Adult Children Study (5P01AG026276-S1)