Structural biology/ biochemistry--alpha synuclein & other PD linked gene products

这些实验的总体目标是确定PD相关突变对基因产物特性的影响，并利用这些信息来发现测试致病性可能解释的方法。 我们希望这项工作将产生新的治疗策略，用于治疗帕金森病（PD）。 我们的重点将是蛋白质纤维形成，因为纤维状细胞质聚集体，或路易体，诊断PD和路易体的主要纤维成分也是与早发性PD相关的基因的产物。 编码α-突触核蛋白（alphaS）和泛素C-水解酶（UCH）的两种不同基因中的三种突变与早发性PD有关。 我们已经表明，两个α S突变影响蛋白质的寡聚化特性;两者都有利于寡聚化。 拟议研究的中心目标是了解寡聚化和纤维化的结构基础以及该过程与疾病之间的关系（后者将需要本项目和项目3之间的合作）。 我们对α S的泛素依赖性降解也非常感兴趣，特别是因为UCH可能参与了该途径。 最后，突变UCH也可能是一个纤维蛋白的可能性正在调查中。 蛋白质（UCH和α S）过滤将是在中心核心设施（核心B）中运行的中通量筛选试验的目标。一个与青少年帕金森病相关的基因，parkin，将成为未来生物化学和生物物理学研究的主题。 该蛋白含有N-末端泛素同源结构域，这表明其参与降解过程（如UCH）。 我们打算表征野生型和突变形式的帕金。 这种疾病以常染色体隐性方式遗传的事实表明，可能不涉及毒性寡聚体引起的功能获得。

The overall goal of these experiments is to determine the effects of PD-linked mutations on the properties of the gene products and to use this information to discover methods to test possible explanations for pathogenicity. We expect that this work will generate new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). Our emphasis will be on protein fibrillogenesis, since fibrillar cytoplasmic aggregates, or Lewy bodies, are diagnostic for PD and a major fibrillar component of Lewy bodies is also the product of a gene linked to early-onset PD. Three mutations, in two different genes, encoding alpha-synuclein (alphaS) and ubiquitin C-hydrolase (UCH), have been linked to early-onset PD. We have shown that the two alphaS mutations effect the oligomerization properties of the protein; both favor oligomerization. It is a central goal of the proposed research to understand the structural basis for oligomerization and fibrillization and the relationship between this process and disease (the latter will require a collaboration between this project and project 3). We are also very interested in the ubiquitin-dependent degradation of alphaS, especially since UCH may be involved in that pathway. Finally, the possibility that mutant UCH may also be a fibrillogenic protein is under investigation. Protein (UCH and alphaS) fibrillization will be a target for medium-throughput screening assays to be run in the Center core facility (Core B). A gene linked to juvenile-onset parkinsonism, parkin, will be the subject of future biochemical and biophysical investigations. This protein contains an N-terminal ubiquitin homology domain, which suggests its involvement (like UCH) in the degradative process. We intend to characterize wild-type and mutant forms of Parkin. The fact that this disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner suggests that gain of function due to toxic oligomers may not be involved.