Release of long-range tertiary interactions potentiates aggregation of natively unstructured α-synuclein

National University of Rosario · Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry · +1 more institution

PubMed
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Abstract

In idiopathic Parkinson's disease, intracytoplasmic neuronal inclusions (Lewy bodies) containing aggregates of the protein alpha-synuclein (alphaS) are deposited in the pigmented nuclei of the brainstem. The mechanisms underlying the structural transition of innocuous, presumably natively unfolded, alphaS to neurotoxic forms are largely unknown. Using paramagnetic relaxation enhancement and NMR dipolar couplings, we show that monomeric alphaS assumes conformations that are stabilized by long-range interactions and act to inhibit oligomerization and aggregation. The autoinhibitory conformations fluctuate in the range of nanoseconds to micro-seconds corresponding to the time scale of secondary structure…

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