SARS-CoV-2 Proteins Interact with Alpha Synuclein and Induce Lewy Body-like Pathology In Vitro |
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| Authors: | Zhengcun Wu Xiuao Zhang Zhangqiong Huang Kaili Ma |
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| Affiliation: | 1.Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming 650118, China; (Z.W.); (X.Z.); (Z.H.);2.Medical Primate Research Center & Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China |
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| Abstract: | Growing cases of patients reported have shown a potential relationship between (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) SARS-CoV-2 infection and Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, it is unclear whether there is a molecular link between these two diseases. Alpha-synuclein (α-Syn), an aggregation-prone protein, is considered a crucial factor in PD pathology. In this study, bioinformatics analysis confirmed favorable binding affinity between α-Syn and SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein and nucleocapsid (N) protein, and direct interactions were further verified in HEK293 cells. The expression of α-Syn was upregulated and its aggregation was accelerated by S protein and N protein. It was noticed that SARS-CoV-2 proteins caused Lewy-like pathology in the presence of α-Syn overexpression. By confirming that SARS-CoV-2 proteins directly interact with α-Syn, our study offered new insights into the mechanism underlying the development of PD on the background of COVID-19. |
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| Keywords: | Parkinson’ s disease SARS-CoV-2 alpha-synuclein spike protein nucleocapsid protein |
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