Expression patterns of alpha-synuclein in human hematopoietic cells and in Drosophila at different developmental stages.

Abstract

Alpha-synuclein, a presynaptic protein of the central nervous system, has been implicated in the synaptic events such as neuronal plasticity during development and learning, and neuronal degeneration under pathological conditions. As an effort to understand the biological function of alpha-synuclein, we examined the expression patterns of alpha-synuclein in various human hematopoietic cells, and in Drosophila at different developmental stages. The alpha-synuclein was ubiquitously expressed in all the tested hematopoietic cells including T cells, B cells, NK cells, and monocytes, as well as in the lymphoma cell lines, Jurkat and K562. A potential alpha-synuclein homologue was also expressed in Drosophila, and its expression appeared to be temporally and spatially regulated during development. Our data suggest that alpha-synuclein may function in invertebrates as well as in vertebrates and its function may not be restricted to the neuron.