Did α-Synuclein and Glucocerebrosidase Coevolve? Implications for Parkinson's Disease

PLoS One. 2015 Jul 27;10(7):e0133863. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133863. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Mutations in the GBA1 gene are associated with increased risk of Parkinson's disease, and the protein produced by the gene, glucocerebrosidase, interacts with α-synuclein, the protein at the center of the disease etiology. One possibility is that the mutations disrupt a beneficial interaction between the proteins, and a beneficial interaction would imply that the proteins have coevolved. To explore this possibility, a correlated mutation analysis has been performed for all 72 vertebrate species where complete sequences of α-synuclein and glucocerebrosidase are known. The most highly correlated pair of residue variations is α-synuclein A53T and glucocerebrosidase G115E. Intriguingly, the A53T mutation is a Parkinson's disease risk factor in humans, suggesting the pathology associated with this mutation and interaction with glucocerebrosidase might be connected. Correlations with β-synuclein are also evaluated. To assess the impact of lowered species number on accuracy, intra and inter-chain correlations are also calculated for hemoglobin, using mutual information Z-value and direct coupling analyses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Substitution
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Glucosylceramidase / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Models, Genetic*
  • Mutation, Missense*
  • Parkinson Disease / genetics*
  • alpha-Synuclein / genetics*

Substances

  • SNCA protein, human
  • alpha-Synuclein
  • Glucosylceramidase