XAS STUDIES OF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Alpha-Synuclein (alpha-syn) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, the best known of which is Parkinson?s disease (PD). The sporadic form of PD has been linked to environmental factors that promote oxidative stress and aberrant redox-active metal metabolism, and metal-enhanced oligomerization of alpha-syn has been observed in vitro. Recent work in the Lee laboratory has shown that Cu(II) ions accelerate aggregation and that the copper ions are incorporated into alpha-syn, with the tightest affinity binding near the N-terminus (based on ICP-MS and fluorescence quenching). Cu K-edge and EXAFS studies are being pursued to examine the local structure of the Cu binding site in the WT protein and in related mutants. Preliminary data measured on SSRL BL9-3 have shown that EXAFS data can be obtained for copper concentrations as low as 100 micromolar.