New Research Finds That Zinc May Have A Link In Protecting Against Parkinson's Disease

msn.com/en-us/health/health...

[ElliotGreen]

Underlying study:

Al-Harthi, Samah, et al. 2022. "Zinc ions prevent α-synuclein aggregation by enhancing chaperone function of human serum albumin." International Journal of Biological Macromolecules.

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

Abstract

Metal ions present in cellular microenvironment have been implicated as drivers of aggregation of amyloid forming proteins. Zinc (Zn2+) ions have been reported to directly interact with α-synuclein (AS), a causative agent of Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, and promote its aggregation. AS is a small intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) i.e., understanding molecular factors that drive its misfolding and aggregation has been challenging since methods used routinely to study protein structure are not effective for IDPs. Here, we report the atomic details of Zn2+ binding to AS at physiologically relevant conditions using proton-less NMR techniques that can be applied to highly dynamic systems like IDPs. We also examined how human serum albumin (HSA), the most abundant protein in human blood, binds to AS and whether Zn2+ and/or ionic strength affect this. We conclude that Zn2+ enhances the anti-aggregation chaperoning role of HSA that relies on protecting the hydrophobic N-terminal and NAC regions of AS, rather than polar negatively charged C-terminus. This suggested a previously undocumented role of Zn2+ in HSA function and AS aggregation.

[park_bear in reply to ElliotGreen]

There are conflicting studies on zinc in Parkinson's. Here are a couple of studies indicating zinc is adverse. I do not know what to make of all this other than I am not about to start supplementing zinc:

Synaptic Zinc: An Emerging Player in Parkinson’s Disease pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/339... "Here, we will cover recent evidence implicating synaptic Zn2+ in the pathophysiology of PD and discuss its potential mechanisms of actions"

Synaptic zinc contributes to motor and cognitive deficits in 6-hydroxydopamine mouse models of Parkinson's disease pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/317...

[ElliotGreen in reply to park_bear]

Thanks park_bear. I am likewise cautious. I haven't read deeply on the subject, but I don't take it to be inherently good that zinc ions bind to alpha synuclein.