Synuclein Alpha (SNCa)

Alpha-synuclein also known as SNCA is a protein .An alpha-synuclein fragment, known as the non-Abeta component (NAC) of Alzheimer's disease amyloid, originally found in an amyloid-enriched fraction, is shown to be a fragment of its precursor protein, NACP, by cloning of the full-length cDNA. Later, NACP turned out to be a human homologue of Torpedo synuclein. Therefore, NACP is also referred to as human alpha-synuclein.

Alpha-synuclein is specifically upregulated in a discrete population of presynaptic terminals of the brain during a period of acquisition-related synaptic rearrangement. It has been shown that alpha-synuclein significantly interacts with tubulin, and that alpha-synuclein may have an activity as potential microtubule-associated protein like tau.