Browsing by Author "Cappai, R"

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    Guanidine hydrochloride denaturation of dopamine-induced α-synuclein oligomers: a small-angle x-ray scattering study
    (Wiley Online Library, 2013-06-4) Pham, CLL; Kirby, N; Wood, K; Ryan, T; Roberts, B; Sokolova, AV; Barnham, KJ; Masters, CL; Knott, RB; Cappai, R; Curtain, CC; Rekas, A
    Alpha-synuclein (α-syn) forms the amyloid-containing Lewy bodies found in the brain in Parkinson's disease. The neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) reacts with α-syn to form SDS-resistant soluble, non-amyloid, and melanin-containing oligomers. Their toxicity is debated, as is the nature of their structure and their relation to amyloid-forming conformers of α-syn. The small-angle X-ray scattering technique in combination with modeling by the ensemble optimization method showed that the un-reacted native protein populated three broad classes of conformer, while reaction with DA gave a restricted ensemble range suggesting that the rigid melanin molecule played an important part in their structure. We found that 6 M guanidine hydrochloride did not dissociate α-syn DA-reacted dimers and trimers, suggesting covalent linkages. The pathological significance of covalent association is that if they are non-toxic, the oligomers would act as a sink for toxic excess DA and α-syn; if toxic, their stability could enhance their toxicity. We argue it is essential, therefore, to resolve the question of whether they are toxic or not. © 2013,Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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    PAMAM dendrimers as potential agents against fibrillation of α-synuclein, a parkinson's disease-related protein.
    (Wiley-VCH Verlag Berlin, 2009-03-10) Rekas, A; Lo, V; Gadd, GE; Cappai, R; Yun, SL
    The effect of PAMAM dendrimers (generations G3, G4 and G5) on the fibrillation of α-synuclein was examined by fluorescence and CD spectroscopy, TEM and SANS. PAMAM dendrimers inhibited fibrillation of α-synuclein and this effect increased both with generation number and PAMAM concentration. SANS showed structural changes in the formed aggregates of α-synuclein - from cylindrical to dense three-dimensional ones-as the PAMAM concentration increased, on account of the inhibitory effect. PAMAM also effectively promoted the breaking down of pre-existing fibrils of α-synuclein. In both processes-that is, inhibition and disassociation of fibrils-PAMAM redirected α-synuclein to an amorphous aggregation pathway. © 2009, Wiley-VCH Verlag Berlin
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    Structure of dopamine induced α-synuclein oligomers
    (Springer, 2010-3-23) Rekas, A; Knott, RB; Sokolova, AV; Barnham, KJ; Perez, KA; Masters, CL; Drew, SC; Cappai, R; Curtain, CC; Pham, CLL
    Inclusions of aggregated α-synuclein (α-syn) in dopaminergic neurons are a characteristic histological marker of Parkinson’s disease (PD). In vitro, α-syn in the presence of dopamine (DA) at physiological pH forms SDS-resistant non-amyloidogenic oligomers. We used a combination of biophysical techniques, including sedimentation velocity analysis, small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and circular dichroism spectroscopy to study the characteristics of α-syn oligomers formed in the presence of DA. Our SAXS data show that the trimers formed by the action of DA on α-syn consist of overlapping worm-like monomers, with no end-to-end associations. This lack of structure contrasts with the well-established, extensive β-sheet structure of the amyloid fibril form of the protein and its pre-fibrillar oligomers. We propose on the basis of these and earlier data that oxidation of the four methionine residues at the C- and N-terminal ends of α-syn molecules prevents their end-to-end association and stabilises oligomers formed by cross linking with DA-quinone/DA-melanin, which are formed as a result of the redox process, thus inhibiting formation of the β-sheet structure found in other pre-fibrillar forms of α-syn. © 2010, Springer.