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In neuronal synapses, neurotransmitter-loaded vesicles fuse with presynaptic plasma membrane in a complex sequence of tightly regulated events. The assembly of specialized SNARE complexes plays a pivotal role in this process. The function of the chaperone cysteine string protein α (CSPα) is important for synaptic SNARE complex formation, and mice lacking this protein develop severe synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration that lead to their death within 3 months after birth. Another presynaptic protein, α-synuclein, also potentiates SNARE complex formation, and its overexpression rescues the phenotype of CSPα null mutant mice, although these two proteins use different mechanisms to achieve this effect. α-Synuclein is a member of a family of three related proteins whose structural similarity suggests functional redundancy. Here, we assessed whether γ-synuclein shares the ability of α-synuclein to bind synaptic vesicles and ameliorate neurodegeneration caused by CSPα deficiency in vivo. Although the N-terminal lipid-binding domains of the two synucleins showed similar affinity for purified synaptic vesicles, the C-terminal domain of γ-synuclein was not able to interact with synaptobrevin-2/VAMP2. Consequently, overexpression of γ-synuclein did not have any noticeable effect on the phenotype of CSPα null mutant mice. Our data suggest that the functions of α- and γ-synucleins in presynaptic terminals are not fully redundant.

Original publication

DOI

10.1074/jbc.M112.422402

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Biol Chem

Publication Date

28/12/2012

Volume

287

Pages

44471 - 44477

Keywords

Animals, Cells, Cultured, Female, HSP40 Heat-Shock Proteins, Humans, Male, Membrane Proteins, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Knockout, Neurons, Phenotype, Protein Binding, Protein Structure, Tertiary, Synapses, Synaptic Vesicles, Vesicle-Associated Membrane Protein 2, alpha-Synuclein, gamma-Synuclein