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The Influence of Pathogenic Mutations in α-Synuclein on Biophysical and Structural Characteristics of Amyloid Fibrils.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Ruggeri, Francesco Simone  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1232-1907
Chirgadze, Dimitri Y 

Abstract

Proteinaceous deposits of α-synuclein amyloid fibrils are a hallmark of human disorders including Parkinson's disease. The onset of this disease is also associated with five familial mutations of the gene encoding the protein. However, the mechanistic link between single point mutations and the kinetics of aggregation, biophysical properties of the resulting amyloid fibrils, and an increased risk of disease is still elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the disease-associated mutations of α-synuclein generate different amyloid fibril polymorphs compared to the wild type protein. Remarkably, the α-synuclein variants forming amyloid fibrils of a comparable structure, morphology, and heterogeneity show similar microscopic steps defining the aggregation kinetics. These results demonstrate that a single point mutation can significantly alter the distribution of fibrillar polymorphs in α-synuclein, suggesting that differences in the clinical phenotypes of familial Parkinson's disease could be associated with differences in the mechanism of formation and the structural characteristics of the aggregates.

Description

Keywords

atomic force microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, neurodegenerative disorders, protein misfolding, single-molecule biophysics, Amyloid, Biophysics, Humans, Mutation, Parkinson Disease, alpha-Synuclein

Journal Title

ACS Nano

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1936-0851
1936-086X

Volume Title

14

Publisher

American Chemical Society (ACS)

Rights

All rights reserved