Combinational losses of synucleins reveal their differential requirements for compensating age-dependent alterations in motor behavior and dopamine metabolism
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Connor-Robson, Natalie
Peters, Owen M
Millership, Steven
Ninkina, Natalia
Buchman, Vladimir L
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Synucleins are involved in multiple steps of the neurotransmitter turnover, but the largely normal synaptic function in young adult animals completely lacking synucleins suggests their roles are dispensable for execution of these processes. Instead, they may be utilized for boosting the efficiency of certain molecular mechanisms in presynaptic terminals, with a deficiency of synuclein proteins sensitizing to or exacerbating synaptic malfunction caused by accumulation of mild alterations, which are commonly associated with aging. Although functional redundancy within the family has been reported, it is unclear whether the remaining synucleins can fully compensate for the deficiency of a lost family member or whether some functions are specific for a particular member. We assessed several structural and functional characteristics of the nigrostriatal system of mice lacking members of the synuclein family in every possible combination and demonstrated that stabilization of the striatal dopamine level depends on the presence of α-synuclein and cannot be compensated by other family members, whereas β-synuclein is required for efficient maintenance of animal's balance and coordination in old age.
Date Issued
2016-10-01
Date Acceptance
2016-06-25
Citation
Neurobiology of Aging, 2016, 46, pp.107-112
ISSN
0197-4580
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Start Page
107
End Page
112
Journal / Book Title
Neurobiology of Aging
Volume
46
Copyright Statement
©2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
License URL
Subjects
1103 Clinical Sciences
1109 Neurosciences
Neurology & Neurosurgery
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-07-04