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1: Biochemistry. 2003 Jul 22;42(28):8465-71.Click here to read Links

Nuclear localization of alpha-synuclein and its interaction with histones.

Goers J, Manning-Bog AB, McCormack AL, Millett IS, Doniach S, Di Monte DA, Uversky VN, Fink AL.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA.

The aggregation of alpha-synuclein is believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease as well as other neurodegenerative disorders ("synucleinopathies"). However, the function of alpha-synuclein under physiologic and pathological conditions is unknown, and the mechanism of alpha-synuclein aggregation is not well understood. Here we show that alpha-synuclein forms a tight 2:1 complex with histones and that the fibrillation rate of alpha-synuclein is dramatically accelerated in the presence of histones in vitro. We also describe the presence of alpha-synuclein and its co-localization with histones in the nuclei of nigral neurons from mice exposed to a toxic insult (i.e., injections of the herbicide paraquat). These observations indicate that translocation into the nucleus and binding with histones represent potential mechanisms underlying alpha-synuclein pathophysiology.

PMID: 12859192 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]