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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2023.05.06.539715

SARS-COV-2 Spike Protein Fragment eases Amyloidogenesis of α-Synuclein

Hansmann, U. H. E.·Maiti, B.·Chesney, A. D.
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Abstract

Parkinsons Disease is accompanied by presence of amyloids in the brain formed of -synuclein chains. Correlation between COVID-19 and the onset of Parkinsons disease let to the idea that amyloidogenic segments in SARS-COV-2 proteins can induce aggregation of -synuclein. Using molecular dynamic simulations, we show that the fragment FKNIDGYFKI of the spike protein, which is unique for SARS-COV-2, shifts preferentially the ensemble of -synuclein monomer towards rod-like fibril seeding conformations, and at the same time stabilizes differentially this polymorph over the competing twister-like structure. Our results are compared with earlier work relying on a different protein fragment that is not specific for SARS-COV-2.

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Hansmann, U. H. E., Maiti, B., Chesney, A. D.. 2023-05-08. SARS-COV-2 Spike Protein Fragment eases Amyloidogenesis of α-Synuclein. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.06.539715

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