Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39196271›Full record

ArticleeLife2024

On the pH-dependence of α-synuclein amyloid polymorphism and the role of secondary nucleation in seed-based amyloid propagation.

Lukas Frey, Dhiman Ghosh, Bilal M Qureshi, David Rhyner, Ricardo Guerrero-Ferreira, Aditya Pokharna, Witek Kwiatkowski, Tetiana Serdiuk, Paola Picotti, Roland Riek and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in eLife, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

40 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  6. Article
  7. The amplification of α-synuclein amyloid fibrils.Biochemical Society transactions · 2026
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. ATP Hydrolysis by α-Synuclein Amyloids is Mediated by Enclosing β-Strand.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025
    Article
  19. CAPIM: Catalytic activity and site prediction and analysis tool in multimer proteins.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2025
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Lukas Frey *Institute of Molecular Physical Science, Zürich, Switzerland.
Dhiman Ghosh *Institute of Molecular Physical Science, Zürich, Switzerland.
Bilal M Qureshi *Scientific Center for Optical and Electron Microscopy, Zürich, Switzerland.
David RhynerInstitute of Molecular Physical Science, Zürich, Switzerland.
Ricardo Guerrero-FerreiraRobert P. Apkarian Integrated Electron Microscopy Core, Emory University, Atlanta, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3664-8277
Aditya PokharnaInstitute of Molecular Physical Science, Zürich, Switzerland.
Witek KwiatkowskiInstitute of Molecular Physical Science, Zürich, Switzerland.
Tetiana SerdiukInstitute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Paola PicottiInstitute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Roland RiekInstitute of Molecular Physical Science, Zürich, Switzerland.
Jason GreenwaldInstitute of Molecular Physical Science, Zürich, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9448-4821

Funding

Swiss National Science Foundation 205320_182800
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The aggregation of the protein α-synuclein is closely associated with several neurodegenerative disorders and as such the structures of the amyloid fibril aggregates have high scientific and medical significance. However, there are dozens of unique atomic-resolution structures of these aggregates, and such a highly polymorphic nature of the α-synuclein fibrils hampers efforts in disease-relevant in vitro studies on α-synuclein amyloid aggregation. In order to better understand the factors that affect polymorph selection, we studied the structures of α-synuclein fibrils in vitro as a function of pH and buffer using cryo-EM helical reconstruction. We find that in the physiological range of pH 5.8-7.4, a pH-dependent selection between Type 1, 2, and 3 polymorphs occurs. Our results indicate that even in the presence of seeds, the polymorph selection during aggregation is highly dependent on the buffer conditions, attributed to the non-polymorph-specific nature of secondary nucleation. We also uncovered two new polymorphs that occur at pH 7.0 in phosphate-buffered saline. The first is a monofilament Type 1 fibril that highly resembles the structure of the juvenile-onset synucleinopathy polymorph found in patient-derived material. The second is a new Type 5 polymorph that resembles a polymorph that has been recently reported in a study that used diseased tissues to seed aggregation. Taken together, our results highlight the shallow amyloid energy hypersurface that can be altered by subtle changes in the environment, including the pH which is shown to play a major role in polymorph selection and in many cases appears to be the determining factor in seeded aggregation. The results also suggest the possibility of producing disease-relevant structure in vitro.

Indexed as

alpha-SynucleinAmyloidCryoelectron MicroscopyHumansHydrogen-Ion ConcentrationProtein AggregatesProtein Aggregation, Pathologicalalpha-SynucleinAmyloidProtein AggregatesamyloidE. colihumanmolecular biophysicsParkinson's diseasepolymorphismstructural biologyα-synuclein

Identifiers

PMID39196271
PMCPMC11357353

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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.