Title
The Impact of N-terminal Acetylation of Alpha Synuclein on Phospholipid Membrane Binding and Fibril Structure
Author
Aditya Iyer, Steven J. Roeters, Nathalie Schilderink, Bob Hommersom, Ron M.A. Heeren, Sander Woutersen, Mireille M.A.E. Claessens, Vinod Subramaniam
Year
2016
Journal
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Abstract
Human alpha synuclein (αS) has been shown to be N-terminally acetylated in its physiological state. This modification is proposed to modulate αS's function and aggregation into amyloid fibrils. Using bacterially expressed acetylated αS (NTAc-αS) and endogenous αS (Endo-αS) from human erythrocytes, we show that N-terminal acetylation has little impact on αS binding to anionic membranes and thus likely not relevant for regulating membrane affinity. N-terminal acetylation does have an effect on αS aggregation, resulting in a narrower distribution of the aggregation lag times and rates. 2D-IR spectra show that acetylation changes the secondary structure of αS in fibrils. This difference may arise from the slightly higher helical propensity of acetylated αS in solution leading to a more homogenous fibril population with different fibril structure than non-acetylated αS. We speculate that N-terminal acetylation imposes conformational restraints on N-terminal residues in αS, thus predisposing αS towards specific interactions with other binding partners or alternatively decrease nonspecific interactions.
Instrument
J-1500
Keywords
Circular dichroism, Secondary structure, Vesicle interactions, Aggregation, Biochemistry