␣-Synuclein (␣S) is an abundant neuronal protein that accumulates in insoluble inclusions in Parkinson's disease (PD) and the related disorder, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).A central question about the role of ␣S in the pathogenesis of PD and DLB concerns how this normally soluble protein assembles into insoluble aggregates associated with neuronal dysfunction. We recently detected highly soluble oligomers of ␣S in normal brain supernatants and observed their augmentation in PD and DLB brains. Further, we found that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) enhanced ␣S oligomerization in intact mesencephalic neuronal cells. We now report the presence of elevated PUFA levels in PD and DLB brain soluble fractions. Higher PUFA levels were also detected in the supernatants and high-speed membrane fractions of neuronal cells over-expressing wild-type or PD-causing mutant ␣S. This increased PUFA content in the membrane fraction was accompanied by increased membrane fluidity in the ␣S overexpressing neurons. In accord, membrane fluidity and the levels of certain PUFAs were decreased in the brains of mice genetically deleted of ␣S. Together with our earlier observations, these results suggest that ␣S-PUFA interactions help regulate neuronal PUFA levels as well as the oligomerization state of ␣S, both normally and in human synucleinopathies.␣-Synuclein (␣S), 1 a 140-residue protein implicated in both familial and sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD), occurs principally as a cytoplasmic polypeptide in neurons and is localized in part to presynaptic terminals (1). In general, brain ␣S is highly soluble, and purified recombinant ␣S is reported to have a disordered random coil structure in solution (2). A wide array of factors has been found to induce the aggregation of ␣S under experimental conditions. These include PD-causing missense mutations in ␣S (3-5), mitochondrial inhibitors and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) (6, 7), proteosome inhibitors (8, 9), heavy metals (10, 11), oxidative stress (12, 13), ␣S phosphorylation (14), and fatty acids, whether within phospholipids (15) or as free fatty acids (16). Interestingly, some of the factors that can induce ␣S aggregation experimentally have been found to be associated with PD, e.g. ␣S mutations, mitochondrial complex I dysfunction, proteosomal dysfunction, and oxidative stress. Other factors, including free fatty acid composition, have not been comprehensively studied in the brains of patients with PD and other synucleinopathies.We recently obtained evidence that ␣S can directly bind fatty acids (17) and can form highly soluble oligomers in response to the treatment of cultured neurons with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (16). Further, we observed a pool of soluble ␣S oligomers that is detectable only after biochemical treatments that remove fatty acids and other lipids (16, 17). These highly soluble, lipid-associated oligomers were detected in mesencephalic neuronal (MES) cells expressing human ␣S, in the brains of normal and human ␣S transgenic mice, an...