Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Models of Alzheimer's Disease to Screen Genes, Mutations, and Chemicals Affecting Amyloid Beta Production by γ-Secretase
Published on: June 24, 2025
Translational control of BACE1 may go awry in Alzheimer's disease
1Department of Pathology and Neuroscience and the Division of Neuropathology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205-2196, USA. wong@jhmi.edu
Abstract:
Our understanding of the mechanisms whereby BACE1, the aspartyl protease required for the initial cleavage of APP to generate amyloid-beta (Abeta), is regulated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains incomplete. In this issue of Neuron, O'Connor and coworkers show how energy deprivation, a potential risk factor in AD, triggers the phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2alpha to elevate the translation efficiency of a set of stress-related transcripts, including that of BACE1, and increases the level of BACE1, thereby accelerating amyloidogenesis.
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Translation
Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life
Translation
Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...
Regulation of Expression at Multiple Steps

