Our new preprint about alpha-synuclein aggregation in aCSF with Cryo-EM structure. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.21.639308
#Cryo-EM #Alpha-synuclein #VilniusUniversity #science
α-Synuclein (aSyn) is an intrinsically disordered protein involved in neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity. The pathological aggregation of this protein is a hallmark of synucleinopathies such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) or Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). Misfolded aSyn, which primarily originates in cell cytosol, transmits between neurons, promoting a prion-like propagation. However, the extracellular environments such as interstitial and cerebrospinal fluids (ISF & CSF) play a major role in its clearance and pathological transformation. The molecular components of CSF, including proteins, glycosaminoglycans, and metal ions may influence the aggregate morphology, structure and cytotoxicity to cells. To better understand how extracellular composition affects aggregates and their formation, we employed artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) to mimic potential aggregation processes occurring in CSF. We observed distinct aCSF-specific aSyn fibrils that exhibited low stability outside aCSF, and the removal of key CSF components led to its structural alterations. Cryo-electron microscopy revealed that these fibrils possess an electron density pocket coordinated with polar basic AAs (K43, K45, H50) that is also observed in aggregates obtained from MSA patients. Our findings illustrate the importance of physiologically relevant conditions in studying aSyn aggregation and may explain why disease-related fibril structure replication in vitro has not yet been successful. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
New #openaccess publication #SciPost #Physics
Universal performance gap of neural quantum states applied to the Hofstadter-Bose-Hubbard model
Eimantas Ledinauskas, Egidijus Anisimovas
SciPost Phys. 18, 011 (2025)
https://scipost.org/SciPostPhys.18.1.011
Please check out our new publication, "Diverse effects of fluorescent labels on alpha-synuclein condensate formation during liquid-liquid phase separation," via the link below. A great job by Mantas Žiaunys!
This research was funded by the Research Council of Lithuania grant number S-MIP-24-52.
New #openaccess publication #SciPost #Physics
Bethe vectors and recurrence relations for twisted Yangian based models
Vidas Regelskis
SciPost Phys. 17, 126 (2024)
https://scipost.org/SciPostPhys.17.5.126
Library of Vilnius University is exquisite - here is one of it's halls, named after Pranciškus Smuglevičius - famous painter and art professor 
Vilniaus universiteto Alumni dienoje teko unikali galimybė pamatyti Vinco Mykolaičio Putino "Altorių šešėly" rankraščio originalą 
Pasirodo, kelis kartus keitėsi ne tik pačio kūrinio pavadinimas, bet ir pagrindinio veikėjo vardas: pirmuosiuose penkiuose puslapiuose originaliai naudotas Jonas Sėkla nubrauktas ir keičiamas į Liudą Vasarį, toliau naudojamas būtent pastarasis vardas 
Labai, labai įdomus renginys 
New #openaccess publication #SciPost #Physics
Internal Levin-Wen models
Vincentas Mulevičius, Ingo Runkel, Thomas Voß
SciPost Phys. 17, 088 (2024)
https://scipost.org/SciPostPhys.17.3.088
New #openaccess publication #SciPost #Physics Core
Interferometric microscale measurement of refractive index at VIS and IR wavelengths
Meguya Ryu, Simonas Varapnickas, Darius Gailevicius, Domas Paipulas, Eulalia Puig Vilardell, Zahra Khajehsaeidimahabadi, Saulius Juodkazis, Junko Morikawa, Mangirdas Malinauskas
SciPost Phys. Core 7, 059 (2024)
https://scipost.org/SciPostPhysCore.7.3.059
#AIST #VilniusUniversity #SwinburneUniversityTechnology #TIT
Vrtxd
Amyloid Research lab
Zesa
SciPost Physics
Gytis Repečka