APP on the move

The role of amyloid precursor protein (APP) as the precursor protein of the β-amyloid peptide, which accumulates in extracellular plaques in Alzheimerʹs disease (AD), is well established. By contrast, its physiological function is largely unresolved. Recent data suggest it functions as a kinesin-I cargo receptor mediating the targeting of several synaptic proteins to the nerve terminal. This proposed function of APP might explain some features of the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathology of AD.