Identification of BACE2 as an avid ß-amyloid-degrading protease

Background Proteases that degrade the amyloid s-protein (As) have emerged as key players in the etiology and potential treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but it is unlikely that all such proteases have been identified. To discover new As-degrading proteases (AsDPs), we conducted an unbiased, genome-scale, functional cDNA screen designed to identify proteases capable of lowering net As levels produced by cells, which were subsequently characterized for As-degrading activity using an array of downstream assays.