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Scientific Correspondence

Nature Neuroscience 1, 101–103 (1 June 1998) | doi:10.1038/349

Persyn, a member of the synuclein family, influences neurofilament network integrity

Vladimir Buchman , Jimi Adu , Luzia Pin|[otilde]|n , Natalia Ninkina & Alun Davies

Synucleins are small cytosolic proteins expressed in the nervous system; they are localized in synaptic terminals but not tightly associated with either cytoskeletal or vesicular fractions. Alpha-synuclein has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and familial Parkinson's disease because it is present in senile plaques and Lewy bodies, binds amyloid A|[bgr]| peptide and is mutated in some families affected by Parkinson's disease, but the cellular functions of synucleins remain elusive. Here we show that a synuclein we term persyn increases the susceptibility of neurofilament-H to calcium-dependent proteases.