alpha-2-macroglobulin gene

alpha-2-macroglobulin gene (A2M gene)

A gene that codes for a protease inhibitor concerned with the degradation and clearance of beta-amyloid, the protein that accumulates in the brain in ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. A mutated allele of this gene was reported in 1998 and it has been found that people with Alzheimer's disease are more likely to have a mutated A2M gene than their siblings.