Misfolded α-synuclein is a major component of Lewy bodies, which are a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. A large body of evidence shows that α-synuclein can aggregate into amyloid fibrils, but the relationship between α-synuclein self-assembly and Lewy body formation remains unclear. Here we show, both in vitro and in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Parkinson’s disease, that α-synuclein undergoes liquid‒liquid phase separation by forming a liquid droplet state, which converts into an amyloid-rich hydrogel with Lewy-body-like properties. This maturation process towards the amyloid state is delayed in the presence of model synaptic vesicles in vitro. Taken together, these results suggest that the formation of Lewy bodies may be linked to the arrested maturation of α-synuclein condensates in the presence of lipids and other cellular components.

Misfolded a-synuclein is a major component of Lewy bodies, which are a hallmark of Parkinson's disease. A large body of evidence shows that a-synuclein can self-assemble into amyloid fibrils, but the relationship between amyloid formation and Lewy body formation still remains unclear. Here we show, both in vitro and in a C. elegans model of Parkinson's disease, that a-synuclein undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation by forming a liquid droplet state, which converts into an amyloid-rich hydrogel. This maturation process towards the amyloid state is delayed in the presence of model synaptic vesicles in vitro. Taken together, these results suggest that the formation of Lewy bodies is linked to the arrested maturation of a-synuclein condensates in the presence of lipids and other cellular components.Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder, affecting over 2% of the world's population over 65 years of age [1,2]. The molecular origins of this disease are not fully understood, although they have been closely associated with dysregulation of the behaviour of a-synuclein [1, 3, 4], a disordered protein whose function appears to involve the regulation of synaptic vesicle trafficking [5][6][7][8]. This gap in our knowledge of the disease aetiology is no doubt partly responsible for the lack of disease modifying therapies for PD [9][10][11][12].The pathological hallmark of PD is the presence of Lewy bodies within dopaminergic neurons in the brains of affected patients [13]. Although misfolded a-synuclein is a major constituent of Lewy bodies [14,15], ultrastructural and proteome studies have indicated that these aberrant deposits contain a plethora of cellular components, including lipid membranes and organelle fragments [16][17][18][19][20]. These findings have led to the suggestion that the processes associated with the formation of Lewy bodies could be major drivers of neurotoxicity in PD [16,18,21].Since it has also been shown that a-synuclein can aggregate into ordered amyloid fibrils in vitro [22][23][24][25][26] and in vivo [27][28][29][30][31][32], we asked how such a-synuclein aggregation can be reconciled with the formation of highly complex and heterogeneous assemblies such as Lewy bodies. We hypothesised that a-synuclein may be capable of irreversibly capturing cellular components through liquid-liquid phase separation, as this mechanism has been shown to drive the self-assembly of various disease-associated proteins on-pathway to the formation of solid aggregates [33][34][35][36]. Under healthy conditions, the condensation of proteins into a dense liquid droplet state through liquid-liquid phase separation is normally reversible, and exploited in a variety of ways to carry out cellular functions, including RNA metabolism, ribosome biogenesis, DNA damage response and signal transduction [33,34,37]. Upon dysregulation, however, liquid droplets can mature into gel-like deposits, which irreversibly sequester important cellular components and lead to pathological processes [38...

The aggregation of α-synuclein into amyloid fibrils has been under scrutiny in recent years because of its association with Parkinson’s disease. This process can be triggered by a lipid-dependent nucleation process, and the resulting aggregates can proliferate through secondary nucleation under acidic pH conditions. It has also been recently reported that the aggregation of α-synuclein may follow an alternative pathway, which takes place within dense liquid condensates formed through phase separation. The microscopic mechanism of this process, however, remains to be clarified. Here, we used fluorescence-based assays to enable a kinetic analysis of the microscopic steps underlying the aggregation process of α-synuclein within liquid condensates. Our analysis shows that at pH 7.4, this process starts with spontaneous primary nucleation followed by rapid aggregate-dependent proliferation. Our results thus reveal the microscopic mechanism of α-synuclein aggregation within condensates through the accurate quantification of the kinetic rate constants for the appearance and proliferation of α-synuclein aggregates at physiological pH.

It is well-established that ⍺-synuclein aggregation may proceed through an initial lipid-dependent aggregate formation and, if at acidic pH, a subsequent aggregate-dependent proliferation. It has also been recently reported that the aggregation of ⍺-synuclein may also take place through an alternative pathway, which takes place within dense liquid condensates produced through liquid-liquid phase separation. The microscopic mechanism of this process, however, remains to be clarified. Here, we developed a fluorescence-based assay to perform a kinetic analysis of the aggregation process of ⍺-synuclein within liquid condensates, and applied it to determine the corresponding mechanism of aggregation. Our analysis shows that at pH 7.4 the aggregation process of ⍺-synuclein within dense condensates starts with spontaneous primary nucleation followed by rapid aggregate-dependent proliferation. Taken together, these results reveal a highly efficient pathway for the appearance and proliferation of ⍺-synuclein aggregates at physiological pH.

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