α-Synuclein arginylation in the human brain

BACKGROUND: Alpha-synuclein (α-syn) exhibits pathological misfolding in many human neurodegenerative disorders. We previously showed that α-syn is arginylated in the mouse brain and that lack of arginylation leads to neurodegeneration in mice. METHODS: Here, we tested α-syn arginylation in human brain pathology using newly derived antibodies in combination with Western blotting, biochemical assays, and experiments in live neurons. RESULTS: We found that α-syn was arginylated in the human brain on E46 and E83, two sites previously implicated in α-syn pathology and familial cases of Parkinson’s disease. The levels of arginylation in different brain samples ranged between ~ 3% and ~ 50% of the total α-syn pool, and this arginylation nearly exclusively concentrated in the subcellular α-syn fraction that sedimented at low centrifugation speeds and appeared to be simultaneously targeted by multiple posttranslational modifications. Arginylated α-syn was less susceptible to S129 phosphorylation and pathological aggregation in neurons. The arginylation level inversely correlated with the overall α-syn levels and with patient age, suggesting a possible causal relationship between arginylation decline and α-syn-dependent neuropathology. CONCLUSION: We propose that α-syn arginylation constitutes a potential neuroprotective mechanism that prevents its abnormal accumulation during neurodegeneration and aging in the human brain. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40035-022-00295-0.