Cell-to-cell transmission of α-synuclein aggregates

Methods Mol Biol. 2012:849:347-59. doi: 10.1007/978-1-61779-551-0_23.

Abstract

It is now recognized that the cell-to-cell transmission of misfolded proteins such as α-synuclein contributes to the neurodegenerative phenotype in neurological disorders such as idiopathic Parkinson's disease, Dementia with Lewy bodies, and Parkinson's disease dementia. Thus, establishing cell-based models for the transmission of α-synuclein is of importance to understand the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in these disorders and to develop new therapies. Here we describe methods to study the neuron-to-neuron propagation of α-synuclein in an in vitro setting that also has in vivo applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Communication*
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Centrifugation
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Genetic Vectors / genetics
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Lentivirus / genetics
  • Mice
  • Neural Stem Cells / cytology
  • Protein Folding
  • Protein Multimerization*
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Protein Transport
  • Staining and Labeling
  • Transfection
  • alpha-Synuclein / chemistry*
  • alpha-Synuclein / genetics
  • alpha-Synuclein / isolation & purification

Substances

  • alpha-Synuclein