Restricted Location of PSEN2/gamma-Secretase Determines Substrate Specificity and Generates an Intracellular A beta Pool

gamma-Secretases are a family of intramembrane-cleaving proteases involved in various signaling pathways and diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Cells co-express differing gamma-secretase complexes, including two homologous presenilins (PSENs). We examined the significance of this heterogeneity and identified a unique motif in PSEN2 that directs this gamma-secretase to late endosomes/lysosomes via a phosphorylation-dependent interaction with the AP-1 adaptor complex. Accordingly, PSEN2 selectively cleaves late endosomal/lysosomal localized substrates and generates the prominent pool of intracellular A beta that contains longer A beta; familial AD (FAD)-associated mutations in PSEN2 increased the levels of longer A beta further. Moreover, a subset of FAD mutants in PSEN1, normally more broadly distributed in the cell, phenocopies PSEN2 and shifts its localization to late endosomes/lysosomes. Thus, localization of gamma-secretases determines substrate specificity, while FAD-causing mutations strongly enhance accumulation of aggregation-prone A beta 42 in intracellular acidic compartments. The findings reveal potentially important roles for specific intracellular, localized reactions contributing to AD pathogenesis.