Cited by 1,080Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and TreatmentsAlzheimer's disease research and treatmentsNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

A Hydrophobic Stretch of 12 Amino Acid Residues in the Middle of α-Synuclein Is Essential for Filament Assembly

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Giasson, Benoit I., Murray, Ian V.J., Trojanowski, John Q., Lee, Virginia M.-Y.·2001·Journal of Biological Chemistry

Abstract

Neuronal and oligodendrocytic aggregates of fibrillar alpha-synuclein define several diseases of the nervous system. It is likely that these inclusions impair vital metabolic processes and compromise viability of affected cells. Here, we report that a 12-amino acid stretch ((71)VTGVTAVAQKTV(82)) in the middle of the hydrophobic domain of human alpha-synuclein is necessary and sufficient for its fibrillization based on the following observations: 1) human beta-synuclein is highly homologous to alpha-synuclein but lacks these 12 residues, and it does not assemble into filaments in vitro; 2) the rate of alpha-synuclein polymerization in vitro decreases after the introduction of a single charged amino acid within these 12 residues, and a deletion within this region abrogates assembly; 3) this stretch of 12 amino acids appears to form the core of alpha-synuclein filaments, because it is resistant to proteolytic digestion in alpha-synuclein filaments; and 4) synthetic peptides corresponding to this 12-amino acid stretch self-polymerize to form filaments, and these peptides promote fibrillization of full-length human alpha-synuclein in vitro. Thus, we have identified key sequence elements necessary for the assembly of human alpha-synuclein into filaments, and these elements may be exploited as targets for the design of drugs that inhibit alpha-synuclein fibrillization and might arrest disease progression.

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Crossref · 10.1074/jbc.m008919200

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  • Introducing hydrophilic point mutations within the NAC significantly reduces the oligomerization and fibrillation potential of αSyn.

    “Introducing hydrophilic point mutations within the NAC significantly reduces the oligomerization and fibrillation potential of αSyn”

    From α-synuclein in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease (2019) · cites this paper as [116]

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Authors
Giasson, B. I., Murray, I. V. J., Trojanowski, J. Q., & Lee, V. M.-Y.
Affiliations
University of Pennsylvania (US)
Corresponding author
Lee, Virginia M.-Y.
Venue
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2001-01
Volume
276
Issue
4
Pages
2380-2386
ISSN
0021-9258 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2166789153
Cited by
1,080
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 33 · 2025: 60 · 2024: 77 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 78 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 51 · 2018: 57 · 2017: 51 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 36
FWCI
21.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Biological Chemistry (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
alpha-synuclein, fibrillization, filament assembly, hydrophobic domains, beta-synuclein, protease resistance, amyloid fibrils, neurodegenerative diseases
MeSH terms
Amino Acid Sequence, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Nervous System Diseases, Peptide Fragments, Protein Binding, Protein Conformation, Recombinant Proteins, Synucleins, alpha-Synuclein, beta-Synuclein

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