What Is a-Synuclein ? - Relationship with Nuerodegenerative Diseases

a- Synuclein is a soluble protein made of 140 amino acids and localizes in nerve cells. This protein is reported as one of the responsible gene of familial Parkinson's disease. Generally, a- synuclein is a natively unfolded soluble protein but it forms insoluble amyloid-like fibrils in the brains of Parkinson’s diseases or dementia with Lewy bodies. In addition to Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, recent study has revealed that accumulation of a- synuclein is closely relateed to other neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple system atrophy (MSA) and pure autonomic failure. Relationship between accumulation of a- synuclein and pathogenic mechanism of these diseases is still unknown, however, it is suggested that accumulation of a- synuclein is cytotoxic and distribution of a-synuclein pathology is correlated with clinical staging of PD. Therefore, it is quite important to detect aggregation of a- synuclein in cells to clarify the pathogenic mechanisms of these diseases. Particularly, morbidity of Parkinson's diseaseis the second highest next to Alzheimer’s disease and the number of patients is increasing year by year. It is of great interest to know the pathogenic mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases with a-synuclein accumulation.



Newly developed “a-Synuclein Aggregation Assay Kit”

The significance and big advantage

Our product, a-Synuclein Aggregation Assay Kit (CSR-SYN01-COS) includes;
1. a-synuclein fibrils as aggregation seeds
2. an expression plasmid vector for a-synuclein
3. transfection reagent
It enables to reproduce intracellular aggregation of a-synuclein in cultured cells (Nonaka et al. JBC 2010). This kit can be used for a cell base screening of aggregation inhibitors as therapeutic strategies and also be helpful to reveal pathogenetic mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases with a-synuclein accumulation.





Anti a-synuclein antibodies and epitopes

Function of a-synuclein and properties of epitope domain against anti a-Synuclein antibodies

a-Synuclein is known as a natively unfolded protein but it forms amyloid fibrils and accumulates in the brains of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) To explain aggregation mechanism of a-synclein, Seed-dependent Aggregation hypothesis is assumed. According to the hypothesis, aggregation starts with formation of a small amount of fibrils, and then it works as elongation seeds to produce further aggregation. In Addition, “Prion-like Transmission hypothesis” is suggested to explain the expansion of a-synuclein pathology in these diseases. As described in the previous chapter, “a-Synuclein Aggregation Assay Kit” (CSR-SYN01-COS) provides materials and tools to reproduce Seed-dependent aggregation of a-synuclein in cultured cells and it is very useful for research of aggregation and prion-like propagation of a-synuclein. Furthermore, a series of antibodies against a-Synucleins are also available for detection of a-synuclein.






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