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Gilboa T, Swank Z, Thakur R, Gould RA, Ooi KH, Norman M, Flynn EA, Deveney BT, Chen A, Borberg E, Kuzkina A, Ndayisaba A, Khurana V, Weitz DA, Walt DR. Toward the quantification of α-synuclein aggregates with digital seed amplification assays. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2312031121. [PMID: 38194461 PMCID: PMC10801878 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2312031121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024] Open
Abstract
The quantification and characterization of aggregated α-synuclein in clinical samples offer immense potential toward diagnosing, treating, and better understanding neurodegenerative synucleinopathies. Here, we developed digital seed amplification assays to detect single α-synuclein aggregates by partitioning the reaction into microcompartments. Using pre-formed α-synuclein fibrils as reaction seeds, we measured aggregate concentrations as low as 4 pg/mL. To improve our sensitivity, we captured aggregates on antibody-coated magnetic beads before running the amplification reaction. By first characterizing the pre-formed fibrils with transmission electron microscopy and size exclusion chromatography, we determined the specific aggregates targeted by each assay platform. Using brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid samples collected from patients with Parkinson's Disease and multiple system atrophy, we demonstrated that the assay can detect endogenous pathological α-synuclein aggregates. Furthermore, as another application for these assays, we studied the inhibition of α-synuclein aggregation in the presence of small-molecule inhibitors and used a custom image analysis pipeline to quantify changes in aggregate growth and filament morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tal Gilboa
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA02115
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
| | - Zoe Swank
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA02115
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
| | - Rohan Thakur
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA02138
- Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Russell A. Gould
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Kean Hean Ooi
- Department of Medical Sciences, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
| | - Maia Norman
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA02115
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
- Physician Scientist Training Program, Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Residency in Adult Psychiatry, Boston, MA02114
| | - Elizabeth A. Flynn
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA02115
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Brendan T. Deveney
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA02138
| | - Anqi Chen
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA02138
| | - Ella Borberg
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA02115
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
| | - Anastasia Kuzkina
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA02115
| | - Alain Ndayisaba
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA02115
| | - Vikram Khurana
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA02115
- Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, MA02138
- Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, Cambridge, MA02142
| | - David A. Weitz
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA02138
- Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA02138
| | - David R. Walt
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA02115
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
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