Anterior Pharynx Defective 1A (APH1A)

APH-1 (anterior pharynx-defective 1) is a protein gene product originally identified in the Notch signaling pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans as a regulator of the cell-surface localization of nicastrin. APH-1 homologs in other organisms, including humans, have since been identified as components of the gamma secretase complex along with the catalytic subunit presenilin and the regulatory subunits nicastrin and PEN-2. The gamma-secretase complex is a multimeric protease responsible for the intramembrane proteolysis of transmembrane proteins such as the Notch protein and amyloid precursor protein (APP). Gamma-secretase cleavage of APP is one of two proteolytic steps required to generate the peptide known as amyloid beta, whose misfolded form is implicated in the causation of Alzheimer's disease.