SARS-CoV-2 Proteins Interact with Alpha Synuclein and Induce Lewy Body-like Pathology In Vitro
1
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming 650118, China
2
Medical Primate Research Center & Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Dean L. Pountney and Vladimir N. Uversky
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(6), 3394; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23063394
Received: 23 February 2022
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Revised: 14 March 2022
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Accepted: 18 March 2022
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Published: 21 March 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synucleins in Neurodegeneration)
Growing cases of patients reported have shown a potential relationship between (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) SARS-CoV-2 infection and Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, it is unclear whether there is a molecular link between these two diseases. Alpha-synuclein (α-Syn), an aggregation-prone protein, is considered a crucial factor in PD pathology. In this study, bioinformatics analysis confirmed favorable binding affinity between α-Syn and SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein and nucleocapsid (N) protein, and direct interactions were further verified in HEK293 cells. The expression of α-Syn was upregulated and its aggregation was accelerated by S protein and N protein. It was noticed that SARS-CoV-2 proteins caused Lewy-like pathology in the presence of α-Syn overexpression. By confirming that SARS-CoV-2 proteins directly interact with α-Syn, our study offered new insights into the mechanism underlying the development of PD on the background of COVID-19.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Wu, Z.; Zhang, X.; Huang, Z.; Ma, K. SARS-CoV-2 Proteins Interact with Alpha Synuclein and Induce Lewy Body-like Pathology In Vitro. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23, 3394. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23063394
AMA Style
Wu Z, Zhang X, Huang Z, Ma K. SARS-CoV-2 Proteins Interact with Alpha Synuclein and Induce Lewy Body-like Pathology In Vitro. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022; 23(6):3394. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23063394
Chicago/Turabian StyleWu, Zhengcun, Xiuao Zhang, Zhangqiong Huang, and Kaili Ma. 2022. "SARS-CoV-2 Proteins Interact with Alpha Synuclein and Induce Lewy Body-like Pathology In Vitro" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 23, no. 6: 3394. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23063394
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