Synthetic filaments assembled from C-terminally truncated α-synuclein

Abstract

Recently two point mutations in the α-synuclein gene have been found in familial Parkinson's disease. The characteristic fibrous neuropathological lesions of Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases have been shown to stain strongly with antibodies against α-synuclein and extracted filaments have been labelled with anti-α-synuclein antibodies. In view of the close involvement of α-synuclein filaments with pathology, it was important to establish an in vitro assembly system. We report here that C-terminally truncated recombinant α-synuclein readily assembles into filaments resembling those isolated from diseased brain and suggest that truncation by proteolysis may play a role in the pathological process.