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- Lorentzon, Emma, 1995, et al.
(author)
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Differential effects of Cu2+ and Fe3+ ions on in vitro amyloid formation of biologically-relevant α-synuclein variants
- 2020
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In: Biometals. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0966-0844 .- 1572-8773. ; 33:2-3, s. 97-106
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alterations in metal ion homeostasis appear coupled to neurodegenerative disorders but mechanisms are unknown. Amyloid formation of the protein α-synuclein in brain cells is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. α-Synuclein can bind several metal ions in vitro and such interactions may affect the assembly process. Here we used biophysical methods to study the effects of micromolar concentrations of Cu2+ and Fe3+ ions on amyloid formation of selected α-synuclein variants (wild-type and A53T α-synuclein, in normal and N-terminally acetylated forms). As shown previously, Cu2+ speeds up aggregation of normal wild-type α-synuclein, but not the acetylated form. However, Cu2+ has a minimal effect on (the faster) aggregation of normal A53T α-synuclein, despite that Cu2+ binds to this variant. Like Cu2+, Fe3+ speeds up aggregation of non-acetylated wild-type α-synuclein, but with acetylation, Fe3+ instead slows down aggregation. In contrast, for A53T α-synuclein, regardless of acetylation, Fe3+ slows down aggregation with the effect being most dramatic for acetylated A53T α-synuclein. The results presented here suggest a correlation between metal-ion modulation effect and intrinsic aggregation speed of the various α-synuclein variants.
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| 2. |
- Zhang, Xiaolu, 1983, et al.
(author)
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The Caenorhabditis elegans homolog of human copper chaperone Atox1, CUC-1, aids in distal tip cell migration
- 2020
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In: Biometals. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0966-0844 .- 1572-8773. ; :33, s. 147-157
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cell migration is a fundamental biological process involved in for example embryonic development, immune system and wound healing. Cell migration is also a key step in cancer metastasis and the human copper chaperone Atox1 was recently found to facilitate this process in breast cancer cells. To explore the role of the copper chaperone in other cell migration processes, we here investigated the putative involvement of an Atox1 homolog in Caenorhabditis elegans, CUC-1, in distal tip cell migration, which is a key process during the development of the C. elegans gonad. Using knock-out worms, in which the cuc-1 gene was removed by CRISPR-Cas9 technology, we probed life span, brood size, as well as distal tip cell migration in the absence or presence of supplemented copper. Upon scoring of gonads, we found that cuc-1 knock-out, but not wild-type, worms exhibited distal tip cell migration defects in approximately 10-15% of animals and, had a significantly reduced brood size. Importantly, the distal tip cell migration defect was rescued by a wild-type cuc-1 transgene provided to cuc-1 knock-out worms. The results obtained here for C. elegans CUC-1 imply that Atox1 homologs, in addition to their well-known cytoplasmic copper transport, may contribute to developmental cell migration processes.
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