Regulation of α-synuclein by chaperones in mammalian cells

Neurodegeneration in patients with Parkinson’s disease is correlated with the occurrence of Lewy bodies—intracellular inclusions that contain aggregates of the intrinsically disordered protein α-synuclein1. The aggregation propensity of α-synuclein in cells is modulated by specific factors that include post-translational modifications2,3, Abelson-kinase-mediated phosphorylation4,5 and interactions with intracellular machineries such as molecular...