AnaSpec has announced the release of two new recombinant proteins, synuclein (SNCA) and Synuclein (SNCB). These proteins, along with -synuclein (SNCG), are members of the synuclein family of small proteins expressed primarily in neural tissue and in some tumours. Synuclein proteins, found only in vertebrates, possess a highly conserved N-terminal domain, with a variable number of 11-residue repeats and a less conserved C-terminal, with a preponderance of acidic residues.

Synuclein is an abundant protein of 140 residues that is present in high concentration at presynaptic terminals and is found in both soluble and membrane-associated fractions of the brain.

N-terminal of ß-synuclein is highly homologous to a-, ?-synucleins and consists of degenerative 'KTKEGV' repeats.7-10 Similar to a-synuclein, beta-synuclein is found primarily in the brain; however, it does not associate with Lewy bodies in Parkinson disease like a-synuclein.7-10 Beta-synuclein was found to inhibit production of phosphatidic acid by the phospholipase D2 transmembrane protein in vitro. In addition, ß-synuclein was detected in many breast and ovarian tumours. Recent investigations demonstrated that ß-synuclein can induce mild experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in Lewis rats.