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@ARTICLE{Breimann:279438,
author = {Breimann, Stephan and Kamp, Frits and Basset, Gabriele and
Abou-Ajram, Claudia and Güner, Gökhan and Yanagida, Kanta
and Okochi, Masayasu and Müller, Stephan A and
Lichtenthaler, Stefan F and Langosch, Dieter and Frishman,
Dmitrij and Steiner, Harald},
title = {{C}harting γ-secretase substrates by explainable {AI}.},
journal = {Nature Communications},
volume = {16},
number = {1},
issn = {2041-1723},
address = {[London]},
publisher = {Springer Nature},
reportid = {DZNE-2025-00769},
pages = {5428},
year = {2025},
abstract = {Proteases 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.},
keywords = {Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases: metabolism / Amyloid
Precursor Protein Secretases: chemistry / Amyloid Precursor
Protein Secretases: genetics / Humans / Machine Learning /
Substrate Specificity / Alzheimer Disease: metabolism /
Algorithms / Protein Binding / Amyloid Precursor Protein
Secretases (NLM Chemicals)},
cin = {AG Steiner / AG Lichtenthaler},
ddc = {500},
cid = {I:(DE-2719)1110000-1 / I:(DE-2719)1110006},
pnm = {352 - Disease Mechanisms (POF4-352)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-352},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
pubmed = {pmid:40593564},
pmc = {pmc:PMC12219630},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-60638-z},
url = {https://pub.dzne.de/record/279438},
}