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  4. alpha-Synuclein O-GlcNAcylation alters aggregation and toxicity, revealing certain residues as potential inhibitors of Parkinson's disease
 
research article

alpha-Synuclein O-GlcNAcylation alters aggregation and toxicity, revealing certain residues as potential inhibitors of Parkinson's disease

Levine, Paul M.
•
Galesic, Ana
•
Balana, Aaron T.
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January 29, 2019
Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America (PNAS)

A compelling link is emerging between the posttranslational modification O-GlcNAc and protein aggregation. A prime example is alpha-synuclein, which forms toxic aggregates that are associated with neurodegeneration in Parkinson's and related diseases. alpha-Synuclein has been shown to be O-GlcNAcylated at nine different positions in in vivo proteomics experiments from mouse and human tissues. This raises the possibility that O-GlcNAc may alter the aggregation of this protein and could be both an important biological mediator of neurodegeneration and also a therapeutic target. Here, we expand upon our previous research in this area through the chemical synthesis of six site-specifically O-GlcNAcylated variants of alpha-synuclein. We then use a variety of biochemical experiments to show that O-GlcNAc in general inhibits the aggregation of alpha-synuclein but can also alter the structure of alpha-synuclein aggregates in site-specific ways. Additionally, an alpha-synuclein protein bearing three O-GlcNAc modifications can inhibit the aggregation of unmodified protein. Primary cell culture experiments also show that several of the O-GlcNAc sites inhibit the toxicity of extracellular alpha-synuclein fibers that are likely culprits in the spread of Parkinson's disease. We also demonstrate that OGlcNAcylation can inhibit the aggregation of an aggressive mutant of alpha-synuclein, indicating that therapies currently in development that increase this modification might be applied in animal models that rely on this mutant. Finally, we also show that the pan-selective antibody for O-GlcNAc does not generally recognize this modification on alpha-synuclein, potentially explaining why it remains understudied. These results support further development of O-GlcNAcylation tools and therapeutic strategies in neurodegenerative diseases.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1808845116
Web of Science ID

WOS:000456944600013

Author(s)
Levine, Paul M.
Galesic, Ana
Balana, Aaron T.
Mahul-Mellier, Anne-Laure  
Navarro, Mariana X.
De Leon, Cesar A.
Lashuel, Hilal A.  
Pratt, Matthew R.
Date Issued

2019-01-29

Publisher

National Academy of Sciences

Published in
Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America (PNAS)
Volume

116

Issue

5

Start page

1511

End page

1519

Subjects

Multidisciplinary Sciences

•

Science & Technology - Other Topics

•

o-glcnac

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synuclein

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aggregation

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amyloid

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parkinson's disease

•

posttranslational modifications

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secondary nucleation

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tau

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fibril

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phosphorylation

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neurodegeneration

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glycosylation

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pathogenesis

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induction

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pathology

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LMNN  
Available on Infoscience
June 18, 2019
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/157228
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