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SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE · MED

Mutant and wild type human alpha-synucleins assemble into elongated filaments with distinct morphologies in vitro.

J Biol Chem · 1999-03-01

DOI: 10.1074/jbc.274.12.7619PMID: 10075647

Check source for accessResearch Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Journal ArticleOriginal source ↗

Research overview

The text below is the source article’s original abstract under a verified reuse license. cc by

alpha-Synuclein is a soluble presynaptic protein which is pathologically redistributed within intracellular lesions characteristic of several neurodegenerative diseases. Here we demonstrate that wild type and two mutant forms of alpha-synuclein linked to familial Parkinson's disease (Ala30 --> Pro and Ala53 --> Thr) self-aggregate and assemble into 10-19-nm-wide filaments with distinct morphologies under defined in vitro conditions. Immunogold labeling demonstrates that the central region of all these filaments are more robustly labeled than the N-terminal or C-terminal regions, suggesting that the latter regions are buried within the filaments. Since in vitro generated alpha-synuclein filaments resemble the major ultrastructural elements of authentic Lewy bodies that are hallmark lesions of Parkinson's disease, we propose that self-aggregating alpha-synuclein is the major subunit protein of these filamentous lesions.

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