Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 27, 2026

Imaging the Intracellular Trafficking of APP with Photoactivatable GFP
Published on: October 17, 2015
The physiological role of the amyloid precursor protein as an adhesion molecule in the developing nervous system
Lucas J Sosa1, Alfredo Cáceres2,3, Sebastián Dupraz4
1Departamento de Química Biológica Ranwell Caputto, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, CIQUIBIC-CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
Abstract:
The amyloid precursor protein (APP) is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein better known for its participation in the physiopathology of Alzheimer disease as the source of the beta amyloid fragment. However, the physiological functions of the full length protein and its proteolytic fragments have remained elusive. APP was first described as a cell-surface receptor; nevertheless, increasing evidence highlighted APP as a cell adhesion molecule. In this review, we will focus on the current knowledge of the physiological role of APP as a cell adhesion molecule and its involvement in key events of neuronal development, such as migration, neurite outgrowth, growth cone pathfinding, and synaptogenesis. Finally, since APP is over-expressed in Down syndrome individuals because of the extra copy of chromosome 21, in the last section of the review, we discuss the potential contribution of APP to the neuronal and synaptic defects described in this genetic condition. Read the Editorial Highlight for this article on page 9. Cover Image for this issue: doi. 10.1111/jnc.13817.
Related Concept Videos
Amyloid Fibrils
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining,...
Amyloid Fibrils
Immunoglobulin-like Cell Adhesion Molecules
Ig-CAMs exhibit either homophilic binding (to other Ig-CAMs) or heterophilic binding (to other ligands such as integrins). While most Ig-CAMs...
Cadherins in Tissue Organization
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
Adherens Junctions
Adherens Junctions are Dynamic
Role of Amygdala in Memory
One of the...

