1. The N-terminal Acetylation of α-Synuclein Changes the Affinity for Lipid Membranes but not the Structural Properties of the Bound State
- Author
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Matteo Runfola, Christopher M. Dobson, Alfonso De Simone, Michele Vendruscolo, Giuliana Fusco, Runfola, M., De Simone, A., Vendruscolo, M., Dobson, C. M., Fusco, G., Vendruscolo, Michele [0000-0002-3616-1610], Dobson, Christopher M [0000-0002-5445-680X], Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository, and Dobson, Christopher M. [0000-0002-5445-680X]
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,631/45/470/2284 ,Synaptic Vesicle ,Lipid Bilayers ,lcsh:Medicine ,631/45/535/878 ,Synaptic vesicle ,Membrane Lipids ,03 medical and health sciences ,NMR spectroscopy ,0302 clinical medicine ,Bound state ,medicine ,Humans ,lcsh:Science ,Lipid bilayer ,Multidisciplinary ,Chemistry ,Dementia with Lewy bodies ,lcsh:R ,Cell Membrane ,article ,Acetylation ,medicine.disease ,3. Good health ,Cytosol ,030104 developmental biology ,Membrane ,Membrane topology ,Membrane Lipid ,alpha-Synuclein ,Biophysics ,Lipid Bilayer ,82/6 ,lcsh:Q ,Synaptic Vesicles ,Protein aggregation ,Protein Processing, Post-Translational ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Human ,Protein Binding - Abstract
The aggregation of α-synuclein (αS), a protein abundant at presynaptic terminals, is associated with a range of highly debilitating neurodegenerative conditions, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and multiple system atrophy (MSA). Emerging evidence indicates that the interaction of αS with lipid membranes defines both its physiological function and pathological effects. The characterisation of the modes of membrane binding by αS is therefore crucial to clarify the balance between normal and aberrant behaviour of this protein. Here we used solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) spectroscopy to probe the nature of the N-terminally acetylated form of αS (NTAc-αS) bound to synaptic-like lipid vesicles. This post-translational modification is prevalent for the physiological form of αS and modulates the binding to lipid bilayers. By probing the structure, dynamics and membrane topology of NTAc-αS, we found that N-terminal acetylation does not alter significantly the conformational and topological properties of the membrane-bound state of αS, despite increasing its propensity for binding. Taken together, our data and previous characterisations of the cytosolic state of NTAc-αS clarify that the role of the N-terminal acetylation is to regulate the binding affinity of αS for synaptic vesicles without altering the structural properties of the bound state.
- Published
- 2020