Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.
Cerebral accumulation of amyloid β-protein (Ab) is thought to play a key role in the molecular pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Three secretases (β-, γ-, and α-secretase) are proteases that control the production of Aβ from amyloid precursor protein. Increasing evidence suggests that cholesterol-rich membrane microdomains termed ‘lipid rafts’ are involved in the biogenesis and accumulation of Aβ as well as Aβ-mediated neurotoxicity. γ-Secretase is enriched in lipid rafts, which are considered an important site for Aβ generation. Additionally, Aβ-degrading peptidases located in lipid rafts, such as neprilysin, appear to play a role in Aβ catabolism. This mini-review focuses on the roles of lipid rafts in the biogenesis and catabolism of Aβ, covering recent research on the relationship between lipid rafts and the three secretases or Aβ-degrading peptidases. Furthermore, the significance of lipid rafts in Aβ aggregation and neurotoxicity is briefly summarized.