Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26076669›Full record

ArticleNature communications2015

Parkinson-causing α-synuclein missense mutations shift native tetramers to monomers as a mechanism for disease initiation.

Ulf Dettmer, Andrew J Newman, Frank Soldner, Eric S Luth, Nora C Kim, Victoria E von Saucken, John B Sanderson, Rudolf Jaenisch, Tim Bartels, Dennis Selkoe

Erratum issuedOpen access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 213 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
213citing papers in PubMed
23.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

213 citing papers in PubMed, 304 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Elevation of Stearoyl-Coenzyme A Desaturase and Monounsaturated Fatty Acids in Parkinson's Disease Serum.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. The Emerging Parkinson's Disease Oxylipin-Ome.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Investigating the efficacy, methods, and challenges of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) therapy in Parkinson's disease.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
    Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Parkinson disease is a fatty acidopathy.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2025
    Review
  19. ZnJournal of the American Chemical Society · 2025
    Article
  20. Article

153 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Ulf DettmerAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Andrew J NewmanAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Frank SoldnerThe Whitehead Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.
Eric S LuthAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Nora C KimAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Victoria E von SauckenAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
John B SandersonAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Rudolf Jaenisch1] The Whitehead Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA [2] Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Tim BartelsAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Dennis SelkoeAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Brigham and Women's Hospital · USHarvard University · USWhitehead Institute for Biomedical Research · US

Funding

GENOMIC IMPRINTING AND THE CLONING OF MICER37CA084198 · NCI · WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RES · PI JAENISCH, RUDOLF · 2000 to 2008
$9.2M
In Vitro Reprogramming of Somatic Cells into Pluripotent ES-like CellsR37HD045022 · NICHD · WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RES · PI JAENISCH, RUDOLF · 2009 to 2017
$7.5M
Nuclear Cloning and the Reprogramming of the GenomeR01HD045022 · NICHD · WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RES · PI JAENISCH, RUDOLF · 2003 to 2008
$4.7M
Biology of Native Alpha-Synuclein Tetramers in Parkinson's DiseaseRF1NS083845 · NINDS · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI SELKOE, DENNIS J · 2020 to 2020
$2.9M
Biology of Native Alpha-Synuclein Tetramers in Parkinson's DiseaseR01NS083845 · NINDS · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI SELKOE, DENNIS J · 2014 to 2018
$1.8M
NCI NIH HHS 5R37 CA84198NCI NIH HHS R37 CA084198NICHD NIH HHS HD045022NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD045022NICHD NIH HHS R37 HD045022NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS083845NINDS NIH HHS RF1 NS083845
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

β-Sheet-rich α-synuclein (αS) aggregates characterize Parkinson's disease (PD). αS was long believed to be a natively unfolded monomer, but recent work suggests it also occurs in α-helix-rich tetramers. Crosslinking traps principally tetrameric αS in intact normal neurons, but not after cell lysis, suggesting a dynamic equilibrium. Here we show that freshly biopsied normal human brain contains abundant αS tetramers. The PD-causing mutation A53T decreases tetramers in mouse brain. Neurons derived from an A53T patient have decreased tetramers. Neurons expressing E46K do also, and adding 1-2 E46K-like mutations into the canonical αS repeat motifs (KTKEGV) further reduces tetramers, decreases αS solubility and induces neurotoxicity and round inclusions. The other three fPD missense mutations likewise decrease tetramer:monomer ratios. The destabilization of physiological tetramers by PD-causing missense mutations and the neurotoxicity and inclusions induced by markedly decreasing tetramers suggest that decreased α-helical tetramers and increased unfolded monomers initiate pathogenesis. Tetramer-stabilizing compounds should prevent this.

Indexed as

alpha-SynucleinAnimalsBrainEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent AssayHumansImmunoblottingImmunohistochemistryInduced Pluripotent Stem CellsMiceMutation, MissenseNeuronsParkinson DiseaseProtein Structure, QuaternaryRatsRats, Sprague-Dawleyalpha-SynucleinSNCA protein, humanSnca protein, mouseSnca protein, rat

Identifiers

PMID26076669
PMCPMC4490410
OpenAlexW1886318170

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.