title: Synthetic Proteins and Peptides for the Direct Interrogation of α-Synuclein Posttranslational Modifications.
abstract: α-Synuclein is the aggregation-prone protein associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) and related neurodegenerative diseases. Complicating both its biological functions and toxic aggregation are a variety of posttranslational modifications. These modifications have the potential to either positively or negatively affect α-synuclein aggregation, raising the possibility that the enzymes that add or remove these modifications could be therapeutic targets in PD. Synthetic protein chemistry is uniquely positioned to generate site-specifically and homogeneously modified proteins for biochemical study. Here, we review the application of synthetic peptides and proteins towards understanding the effects of α-synuclein posttranslational modifications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. matthew.pratt@usc.edu.|Department of Molecular and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. matthew.pratt@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Pratt
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. abeyward@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Tharindumala
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abeywardana
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. nmarotta@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Nicholas P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Marotta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060326:Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic; D006801:Humans; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational / Q000187:drug effects*; D011506:Proteins / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D011506:Proteins; D051844:alpha-Synuclein
keywords: Synuclein; posttranslational modifications; synthesis