Open AccessEffect of ethanol as molecular crowding agent on the conformational dynamics of α-synuclein
Author(s) -
Mridusmita Kakati,
Dorothy Das,
Pundarikaksha Das,
Airy Sanjeev,
Venkata Satish,
Kumar Mattaparthi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
letters in applied nanobioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2284-6808
DOI - 10.33263/lianbs91.779783
Subject(s) - macromolecular crowding , crowding , molecular dynamics , alpha synuclein , biophysics , chemistry , dynamics (music) , fibril , ethanol , protein folding , protein dynamics , biochemistry , macromolecule , neuroscience , parkinson's disease , computational chemistry , biology , psychology , disease , medicine , pedagogy
The functions of many proteins have been directly connected to their conformational changes. The macromolecular crowding environment inside the cell is known to have a significant impact on the equilibria and transition rates between different conformations of the protein. Here we demonstrate the effect of ethanol as crowders on the conformational dynamics of α- synuclein protein, a primary component of the fibrillar neuronal inclusions, and known as Lewy bodies that are diagnostic of Parkinson’s disease. We observed the α-synuclein protein to experience stronger crowding effects with an increase in concentration of ethanol, the crowding agent. The findings that we obtained from this simulation study would serve as valuable guides for expected crowding effects on conformational dynamics of α- synuclein.