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Human and Tree Shrew Alpha-synuclein: Comparative cDNA Sequence and Protein Structure Analysis

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Abstract

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 shrewα-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.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grants (No. 81274122, 81301073, U1402221), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (No. 20121106120056, 20121106130001), Yunnan Natural Science Foundation (No. 2011FB116, 2013FZ132, 2014FB191), the PUMC Youth Fund and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 3332013082, 3332013146, 33320140191), Bei**g Natural Science Foundation (No. 7131013), the Fund for the Institute of Medical Biology (No. IMB2013YB01, 2014IMB01ZD), and the Fund for the Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (No. 2015IPB201).

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, 650118, China

    Zheng -Cun Wu, Zhang-Qiong Huang, Qin-Fang Jiang, Jie-jie Dai, Ying Zhang, Jia-Hong Gao, **ao-Mei Sun, Cong Li, Yuan-Yuan Han, Yun Li & Kai-Li Ma

  2. Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Bei**g, 100005, China

    Zheng -Cun Wu, Zhang-Qiong Huang, Qin-Fang Jiang, Ying Zhang, Jia-Hong Gao, Nai-Hong Chen, Yu-He Yuan, Cong Li, Yuan-Yuan Han, Yun Li & Kai-Li Ma

  3. 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, Bei**g, 100050, China

    Nai-Hong Chen & Yu-He Yuan

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Correspondence to Kai-Li Ma.

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Zheng-Cun Wu and Zhang-Qiong Huang these authors contributed equally to this work.

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Wu, Z.C., Huang, ZQ., Jiang, QF. et al. Human and Tree Shrew Alpha-synuclein: Comparative cDNA Sequence and Protein Structure Analysis. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 177, 957–966 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-015-1789-6

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