The Gab2 in signal transduction and its potential role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease
1 Department of Neurology and Neuroscience Institute, Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
2 Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute of Health Science, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
Abstract
The growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 (Grb2)-associated binder (Gab) proteins are intracellular scaffolding/docking molecules, and participate in multiple signaling pathways, usually acting as the downstream effector of protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs)-triggered signal transduction pathway. When phosphorylated by PTKs, Gab proteins can recruit several signaling molecules (p85, SHP2, and Crk), and subsequently activate multiple transmitting signals that are critical for cell growth, survival, differentiation and apoptosis. Recently, it has been reported that Gab2 polymorphism is associated with the increase in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is involved in the pathogenesis of AD. This review mainly focuses on the structure and function of Gab2 protein and its role in the pathogenesis of AD.
Keywords
Gab2; signal transduction; Alzheimer’s disease; ApoE
