000279438 001__ 279438 000279438 005__ 20250720001547.0 000279438 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1038/s41467-025-60638-z 000279438 0247_ $$2pmid$$apmid:40593564 000279438 0247_ $$2pmc$$apmc:PMC12219630 000279438 0247_ $$2altmetric$$aaltmetric:178609240 000279438 037__ $$aDZNE-2025-00769 000279438 041__ $$aEnglish 000279438 082__ $$a500 000279438 1001_ $$0P:(DE-2719)9001161$$aBreimann, Stephan$$b0$$eFirst author 000279438 245__ $$aCharting γ-secretase substrates by explainable AI. 000279438 260__ $$a[London]$$bSpringer Nature$$c2025 000279438 3367_ $$2DRIVER$$aarticle 000279438 3367_ $$2DataCite$$aOutput Types/Journal article 000279438 3367_ $$0PUB:(DE-HGF)16$$2PUB:(DE-HGF)$$aJournal Article$$bjournal$$mjournal$$s1752743995_26699 000279438 3367_ $$2BibTeX$$aARTICLE 000279438 3367_ $$2ORCID$$aJOURNAL_ARTICLE 000279438 3367_ $$00$$2EndNote$$aJournal Article 000279438 520__ $$aProteases recognize substrates by decoding sequence information-an essential cellular process elusive when recognition motifs are absent. Here, we unravel this problem for γ-secretase, an intramembrane-cleaving protease associated with Alzheimer's disease and cancer, by developing Comparative Physicochemical Profiling (CPP), a sequence-based algorithm for identifying interpretable physicochemical features. We show that CPP deciphers a γ-secretase substrate signature with single-residue resolution, which can explain the conformational transitions observed in substrates upon γ-secretase binding. Using machine learning, we predict the entire human γ-secretase substrate scope, revealing numerous previously unknown substrates. Our approach outperforms state-of-the-art protein language models, improving prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, and achieves an 88% success rate in experimental validation. Building on these advancements, we identify pathways and diseases not linked before to γ-secretase. Generally, CPP decodes physicochemical signatures-a concept that extends beyond sequence motifs. We anticipate that our approach will be broadly applicable to diverse molecular recognition processes. 000279438 536__ $$0G:(DE-HGF)POF4-352$$a352 - Disease Mechanisms (POF4-352)$$cPOF4-352$$fPOF IV$$x0 000279438 588__ $$aDataset connected to CrossRef, PubMed, , Journals: pub.dzne.de 000279438 650_7 $$0EC 3.4.-$$2NLM Chemicals$$aAmyloid Precursor Protein Secretases 000279438 650_2 $$2MeSH$$aAmyloid Precursor Protein Secretases: metabolism 000279438 650_2 $$2MeSH$$aAmyloid Precursor Protein Secretases: chemistry 000279438 650_2 $$2MeSH$$aAmyloid Precursor Protein Secretases: genetics 000279438 650_2 $$2MeSH$$aHumans 000279438 650_2 $$2MeSH$$aMachine Learning 000279438 650_2 $$2MeSH$$aSubstrate Specificity 000279438 650_2 $$2MeSH$$aAlzheimer Disease: metabolism 000279438 650_2 $$2MeSH$$aAlgorithms 000279438 650_2 $$2MeSH$$aProtein Binding 000279438 7001_ $$0P:(DE-2719)2812549$$aKamp, Frits$$b1 000279438 7001_ $$aBasset, Gabriele$$b2 000279438 7001_ $$aAbou-Ajram, Claudia$$b3 000279438 7001_ $$0P:(DE-2719)2812025$$aGüner, Gökhan$$b4$$udzne 000279438 7001_ $$aYanagida, Kanta$$b5 000279438 7001_ $$aOkochi, Masayasu$$b6 000279438 7001_ $$0P:(DE-2719)2810938$$aMüller, Stephan A$$b7 000279438 7001_ $$0P:(DE-2719)2181459$$aLichtenthaler, Stefan F$$b8 000279438 7001_ $$0P:(DE-2719)9001125$$aLangosch, Dieter$$b9 000279438 7001_ $$aFrishman, Dmitrij$$b10 000279438 7001_ $$0P:(DE-2719)2000023$$aSteiner, Harald$$b11$$eLast author 000279438 773__ $$0PERI:(DE-600)2553671-0$$a10.1038/s41467-025-60638-z$$gVol. 16, no. 1, p. 5428$$n1$$p5428$$tNature Communications$$v16$$x2041-1723$$y2025 000279438 7870_ $$0DZNE-2025-00862$$aBreimann, Stephan$$dZenodo, 2025$$iRelatedTo$$r$$tAAanalysis, v1.0.0 000279438 8564_ $$uhttps://pub.dzne.de/record/279438/files/DZNE-2025-00769%20SUP.zip 000279438 8564_ $$uhttps://pub.dzne.de/record/279438/files/DZNE-2025-00769.pdf$$yOpenAccess 000279438 8564_ $$uhttps://pub.dzne.de/record/279438/files/DZNE-2025-00769.pdf?subformat=pdfa$$xpdfa$$yOpenAccess 000279438 909CO $$ooai:pub.dzne.de:279438$$pdnbdelivery$$pdriver$$pVDB$$popen_access$$popenaire 000279438 9101_ $$0I:(DE-588)1065079516$$6P:(DE-2719)9001161$$aDeutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen$$b0$$kDZNE 000279438 9101_ $$0I:(DE-588)1065079516$$6P:(DE-2719)2812025$$aDeutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen$$b4$$kDZNE 000279438 9101_ $$0I:(DE-588)1065079516$$6P:(DE-2719)2810938$$aDeutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen$$b7$$kDZNE 000279438 9101_ $$0I:(DE-588)1065079516$$6P:(DE-2719)2181459$$aDeutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen$$b8$$kDZNE 000279438 9101_ $$0I:(DE-588)1065079516$$6P:(DE-2719)2000023$$aDeutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen$$b11$$kDZNE 000279438 9131_ $$0G:(DE-HGF)POF4-352$$1G:(DE-HGF)POF4-350$$2G:(DE-HGF)POF4-300$$3G:(DE-HGF)POF4$$4G:(DE-HGF)POF$$aDE-HGF$$bGesundheit$$lNeurodegenerative Diseases$$vDisease Mechanisms$$x0 000279438 9141_ $$y2025 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)0200$$2StatID$$aDBCoverage$$bSCOPUS$$d2025-01-02 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)0160$$2StatID$$aDBCoverage$$bEssential Science Indicators$$d2025-01-02 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)1050$$2StatID$$aDBCoverage$$bBIOSIS Previews$$d2025-01-02 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)1190$$2StatID$$aDBCoverage$$bBiological Abstracts$$d2025-01-02 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)0510$$2StatID$$aOpenAccess 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)1040$$2StatID$$aDBCoverage$$bZoological Record$$d2025-01-02 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)9915$$2StatID$$aIF >= 15$$bNAT COMMUN : 2022$$d2025-01-02 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)0100$$2StatID$$aJCR$$bNAT COMMUN : 2022$$d2025-01-02 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)0501$$2StatID$$aDBCoverage$$bDOAJ Seal$$d2024-01-30T07:48:07Z 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)0500$$2StatID$$aDBCoverage$$bDOAJ$$d2024-01-30T07:48:07Z 000279438 915__ $$0StatID:(DE-HGF)1030$$2StatID$$aDBCoverage$$bCurrent Contents - 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