Investigation Into Potential Inhibitors For Alpha Synuclein
 

Avery T. Evans
Dr. Bill R. Miller, Faculty Mentor

Alpha synuclein is a protein that is abundant in the human brain. Overexpression of this protein can lead to abnormal protein clumps within the brain known as Lewy bodies. Patients possessing these clumps within their brains have been found to present symptoms similar to that of Parkinson’s disease. Other studies concerning alpha synuclein have shown that inhibition of its toxic effects have therapeutic value for individuals with Parkinson’s disease.  Due to these facts it is believed that overexpression of alpha synuclein has a direct link to Parkinson’s disease. Our research group has investigated potential inhibitors for alpha synuclein formation computationally. Using PyRx a docking software we docked our potential inhibitors to an alpha synuclein protein in order to obtain docking scores. Based on the docking scores obtained we then moved on to running free energy calculations on each of our potential inhibitors using molecular dynamics to rank their inhibitory potential. 

 

Keywords: Molecular dynamics, Computational , Alpha synuclein , Parkinson's disease

Topic(s):Chemistry
Biology

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA