Molelcular Dissection of Ectodomain Shedding: Biology of BACE1 and Other Sheddases.

目前，我们的模型脱落酶是BACE1，一种与胃蛋白酶和逆转录病毒天冬氨酸蛋白酶家族相关的I型跨膜蛋白。一个单一的跨膜序列（TMS）将胞外结构域连接到胞浆尾部，构成了天冬氨酸蛋白酶的独特特征。最近的文献表明，BACE1可以切割比预期更多样化的底物。由于我们最近的发现也揭示了金属离子可以与BACE1相互作用，我们假设铜可以调节其生理特性。

Currently, our model sheddase is BACE1, a type I transmembrane protein related to the pepsin and retroviral aspartic acid protease families. A single transmembrane sequence (TMS) links the ectodomain to the cytosolic tail, constituting a unique feature amongst aspartic proteases. Recent literature has revealed that BACE1 can cleave a more diverse array of substrates than anticipated. Since our recent findings have also revealed that metal ions can interact with BACE1, we hypothesize that copper modulates its physiological properties.