Modulation of α-synuclein aggregation by cytochrome c binding and hetero-dityrosine adduct formation

Abstract

The aggregation of α-synuclein (α-Syn) has been implicated strongly in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The intrinsically disordered nature of α-Syn makes this protein prone to self-association or heteroassociation with another protein or lipid. While conformational fluctuation and free radical chemistry have been shown to play important roles in its ability toward self- and heteroassociation, any systematic understanding of their contributions is missing. Here, we report an in vitro investigation of the interaction between α-Syn and cytochrome c in the oxidized (cyt c III) and reduced forms (cyt c II), in which cyt c III was found to induce a large compaction of α-Syn and inhibit the aggregation by favoring a hetero-dityrosine bond formation. In contrast, the presence of cyt c II did not result in any compaction and its presence was found to facilitate α-Syn aggregation. The variation in the charge distribution of the surface residues of cyt c III and cyt c II is expected to play a decisive role in their interaction with α-Syn.