Detection of Disease-associated α-synuclein by Enhanced ELISA in the Brain of Transgenic Mice Overexpressing Human A53T Mutated α-synuclein

Summary

An ELISA offering a novel quantitative approach is described. It specifically detects disease-associated α-synuclein (αS^D) in a transgenic mouse model (M83) of synucleinopathy using several antibodies against either the Ser129 phosphorylated αS form or the C-terminal part of the protein.

Abstract

In addition to established methods like Western blot, new methods are needed to quickly and easily quantify disease-associated α-synuclein (αS^D) in experimental models of synucleopathies. A transgenic mouse line (M83) over-expressing the human A53T αS and spontaneously developing a dramatic clinical phenotype between eight and 22 months of age, characterized by symptoms including weight loss, prostration, and severe motor impairment, was used in this study. For molecular analyses of αS^D (disease-associated αS) in these mice, an ELISA was designed to specifically quantify αS^D in sick mice. Analysis of the central nervous system in this mouse model showed the presence of αS^D mainly in the caudal brain regions and the spinal cord. There were no differences in αS^D distribution between different experimental conditions leading to clinical disease, i.e., in uninoculated and normally aging transgenic mice and in mice inoculated with brain extracts from sick mice. The specific detection of αS^D immunoreactivity using an antibody against Ser129 phosphorylated αS by ELISA essentially correlated with that obtained by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Unexpectedly, similar results were observed with several other antibodies against the C-terminal part of αS. The propagation of αS^D, suggesting the involvement of a “prion-like” mechanism, can thus be easily monitored and quantified in this mouse model using an ELISA approach.

Introduction

Most current methods for detecting disease-associated α-synuclein (αS^D) in experimental models of Parkinson's disease (PD), such as immunohistochemistry or Western blot, are time-consuming and not quantitative. This neurodegenerative disease is characterized by alpha-synuclein aggregation mainly in the form of inclusions containing an aggregated form of the normally soluble presynaptic protein αS^1,2 (Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites). Normally only marginally phosphorylated, αS is hyperphosphorylated at its serine 129 residue in these inclusions³ and can be monitored by antibodies specifically directed against Ser129 p....

Protocol

All the procedures and protocols involving animals were in accordance with EC Directive 86/609/EEC and ratified by ComEth, the French national committee for consideration of ethics in animal experimentation (protocol 11-0043). The animals were housed and cared for in ANSES’s approved experimental facilities in Lyon (approval B 69387 0801).

1. Preparation of Mice

1. Euthanize mice by an intraperitoneal injection of lethal dose of sodium pentobarbital.
2. Retrieve the whole brain from the mouse skull and place it in a 35 mm plastic Petri dish on ice until extraction.
3. Extract the cervical spinal cord.
   

Results

In this study, the ELISAs used specifically identified disease-associated αS (αS^D) in brain homogenates prepared in a High Salt buffer from sick M83 mice. Using an antibody specifically recognizing pSer129 αS (p = 0.0074), the ELISA readily distinguishes old, sick mice (> 8 months old) from young (2-5 months old), healthy M83 mice (Figure 1). Several other antibodies showed similarly high signals (> 0.6 OD) only in brain homogenates from sick mice. This is the case for 4D6 (p = 0.01), LB.......

Discussion

The use of an ELISA was demonstrated to specifically detect αS^D directly from mouse brain homogenates during the disease in the M83 transgenic mouse model. Indeed, this ELISA could readily distinguish sick M83 mice from healthy M83 mice using only whole brain homogenates in High Salt buffer.

The most critical steps for successful results using this ELISA are: correctly dissecting the different regions of the mouse brains by developing the necessary manual dexterity to prevent d.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
LB509	Abcam	ab27766	Detection antibody 1/2,000
AS11	Produced at Anses		Detection antibody 1/1,000
4D6	Abcam	ab1903	Detection antibody 1/2,000
PSer129	Abcam	ab59264	Detection antibody 1/3,000
PSer129 EP1536Y	Abcam	ab51253	Detection antibody 1/1,000
syn514	Abcam	ab24717	Detection antibody 1/500
clone 42	BD Biosciences	610787	Coating and detection antibody (1/2,000)
8A5	Provided by Dr. Anderson		Detection antibody 1/2,000
polyclonal anti-αsyn antibody	Millipore	AB5038P	Coating antibody
Anti-mouse IgG HRP conjugate	Southern Biotech	1010-05
Anti-rabbit IgG HRP conjugate	Southern Biotech	4010-05
Goat anti-mouse IgG HRP conjugate	Dianova	115-035-164
HS buffer			Adjust at pH 7.5 and keep at 4 °C
Tris-HCl 50 mM	Euromedex	26-128-3094-B
NaCl 750 mM	Euromedex	1112-A
EDTA 5 mM	Euromedex	EU0007-B
DTT 1 mM	Sigma	43815
PBS			Adjust at pH 7.5
Na2HPO4 1 mM	Euromedex	1309
KH2PO4 1.5 mM	Euromedex	2018
NaCl  137 mM	Euromedex	1112-A
KCl 2.7 mM	Euromedex	P017
Tween 20	Euromedex	2001-C
BSA	Sigma	A7906
DTT 1 mM	Sigma	43815	Stock solution 100 mM, toxic
1% phosphatase cocktail	Pierce	78428
1% protease inhibitor cocktail	Roche	04 693 132 001	50x concentrated
Microplate MaxiSorpTM	Thermo Scientific	442404
Tampon carbonate 50 mM pH 9.6
Na2CO3, 10H2O	Sigma	71360	2.86 g/L
NaHCO3	Merk	6329	3.36 g/L, pH 9.6
Superblock T20 PBS blocking buffer	Pierce	E6423H	10x concentrated
TMB	Sigma	T0440	Used for ELISA
TMB	Analytik Jena AG	847-0104200302	Used for epitope mapping
HCl 1 N	Chimie plus	40030
Ribolyser	Thermo	Fast prep FP120	keep on ice at this step
Grinding tubes	Biorad	355-1197
Plate washer	Tecan	Columbus Pro
Plate reader	Biorad	Model 680
Low power magnifier	VWR	630-1062	8X magnification
Forceps Dumont#7	WPI	14097	For dissection steps
Transfer pipette 1ml Samso	Samso	043231
1.5 ml tubes	Dutscher	033290