Synthetic filaments assembled from C‐terminally truncated α‐synuclein

Abstract
Recently two point mutations in the α‐synuclein gene have been found in familial Parkinson's disease. The characteristic fibrous neuropathological lesions of Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases have been shown to stain strongly with antibodies against α‐synuclein and extracted filaments have been labelled with anti‐α‐synuclein antibodies. In view of the close involvement of α‐synuclein filaments with pathology, it was important to establish an in vitro assembly system. We report here that C‐terminally truncated recombinant α‐synuclein readily assembles into filaments resembling those isolated from diseased brain and suggest that truncation by proteolysis may play a role in the pathological process.