Human and Tree Shrew Alpha-synuclein: Comparative cDNA Sequence and Protein Structure Analysis.
The synaptic protein alpha-synuclein (α-syn) is associated with a number of neurodegenerative diseases, and homology analyses among many species have been reported. Nevertheless, little is known about the cDNA sequence and protein structure of α-syn in tree shrews, and this information might contribute to our understanding of its role in both health and disease. We designed primers to the human α-syn cDNA sequence; then, tree shrew α-syn cDNA was obtained by RT-PCR and sequenced. Based on the acquired tree shrew α-syn cDNA sequence, both the amino acid sequence and the spatial structure of α-syn were predicted and analyzed. The homology analysis results showed that the tree shrew cDNA sequence matches the human cDNA sequence exactly except at nucleotide positions 45, 60, 65, 69, 93, 114, 147, 150, 157, 204, 252, 270, 284, 298, 308, and 324. Further protein sequence analysis revealed that the tree shrew α-syn protein sequence is 97.1 % identical to that of human α-syn. The secondary protein structure of tree shrew α-syn based on random coils and α-helices is the same as that of the human structure. The phosphorylation sites are highly conserved, except the site at position 103 of tree shrew α-syn. The predicted spatial structure of tree shrew α-syn is identical to that of human α-syn. Thus, α-syn might have a similar function in tree shrew and in human, and tree shrew might be a potential animal model for studying the pathogenesis of α-synucleinopathies.
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China.|Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China.
Zheng-Cun
ZC
Wu
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China.|Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China.
Zhang-Qiong
ZQ
Huang
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China.|Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China.
Qin-Fang
QF
Jiang
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China.
Jie-Jie
JJ
Dai
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China.|Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China.
Ying
Y
Zhang
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China.|Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China.
Jia-Hong
JH
Gao
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China.
Xiao-Mei
XM
Sun
Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China.|State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, China.
Nai-Hong
NH
Chen
Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China.|State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, China.
Yu-He
YH
Yuan
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China.|Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China.
Cong
C
Li
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China.|Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China.
Yuan-Yuan
YY
Han
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China.|Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China.
Yun
Y
Li
Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China. mklpumc@gmail.com.|Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100005, China. mklpumc@gmail.com.
Kai-Li
KL
Ma
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014418:Tupaiidae / Q000235:genetics*; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*
D018076:DNA, Complementary; C497604:SNCA protein, human; D051844:alpha-Synuclein
Alpha-synuclein; Protein structure; Tree shrew; cDNA