1. SARS-COV-2 spike protein fragment eases amyloidogenesis of α-synuclein.
- Author
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Chesney, Andrew D., Maiti, Buddhadev, and Hansmann, Ulrich H. E.
- Subjects
- *
ALPHA-synuclein , *SARS-CoV-2 , *PARKINSON'S disease , *PROTEINS , *DYNAMIC simulation - Abstract
Parkinson's disease is accompanied by the presence of amyloids in the brain that are formed of α-synuclein chains. The correlation between COVID-19 and the onset of Parkinson's disease led to the idea that amyloidogenic segments in SARS-COV-2 proteins can induce aggregation of α-synuclein. Using molecular dynamic simulations, we show that the fragment FKNIDGYFKI of the spike protein, which is unique for SARS-COV-2, preferentially shifts the ensemble of α-synuclein monomer toward rod-like fibril seeding conformations and, at the same time, differentially stabilizes this polymorph over the competing twister-like structure. Our results are compared with earlier work relying on a different protein fragment that is not specific for SARS-COV-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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