Dataset Information

Recapitulating Parkinson's disease pathology in a three-dimensional human neural cell culture model.

ABSTRACT: Extensive loss of dopaminergic neurons and aggregation of the protein ?-synuclein into ubiquitin-positive Lewy bodies represents a major neuropathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). At present, the generation of large nuclear-associated Lewy bodies from endogenous wild-type ?-synuclein, translationally regulated under its own promoter in human cell culture models, requires costly and time-consuming protocols. Here, we demonstrate that fully differentiated human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells grown in three-dimensional cell culture develop Lewy-body-like pathology upon exposure to exogenous ?-synuclein species. In contrast to most cell- and rodent-based PD models, which exhibit multiple diffuse ?-synuclein aggregates throughout the cytoplasm, a single large nuclear inclusion that is immunopositive for ?-synuclein and ubiquitin is rapidly obtained in our model. This was achieved without the need for overexpression of ?-synuclein or genetic modification of the cell line. However, phosphorylation of ?-synuclein within these inclusions was not observed. The system described here provides an ideal tool to screen compounds to therapeutically intervene in Lewy body formation, and to investigate the mechanisms involved in disease progression in synucleinopathies.

SUBMITTER: Taylor-Whiteley TR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6505482 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Recapitulating Parkinson's disease pathology in a three-dimensional human neural cell culture model.

Taylor-Whiteley Teresa R TR Le Maitre Christine L CL Duce James A JA Dalton Caroline F CF Smith David P DP

Disease models & mechanisms 20190409 4

Extensive loss of dopaminergic neurons and aggregation of the protein α-synuclein into ubiquitin-positive Lewy bodies represents a major neuropathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). At present, the generation of large nuclear-associated Lewy bodies from endogenous wild-type α-synuclein, translationally regulated under its own promoter in human cell culture models, requires costly and time-consuming protocols. Here, we demonstrate that fully differentiated human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma c ...[more]

PMID: 30926586

Similar Datasets

Project description:Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, characterized by two pathological hallmarks: amyloid-? plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease posits that the excessive accumulation of amyloid-? peptide leads to neurofibrillary tangles composed of aggregated hyperphosphorylated tau. However, to date, no single disease model has serially linked these two pathological events using human neuronal cells. Mouse models with familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) mutations exhibit amyloid-?-induced synaptic and memory deficits but they do not fully recapitulate other key pathological events of Alzheimer's disease, including distinct neurofibrillary tangle pathology. Human neurons derived from Alzheimer's disease patients have shown elevated levels of toxic amyloid-? species and phosphorylated tau but did not demonstrate amyloid-? plaques or neurofibrillary tangles. Here we report that FAD mutations in ?-amyloid precursor protein and presenilin 1 are able to induce robust extracellular deposition of amyloid-?, including amyloid-? plaques, in a human neural stem-cell-derived three-dimensional (3D) culture system. More importantly, the 3D-differentiated neuronal cells expressing FAD mutations exhibited high levels of detergent-resistant, silver-positive aggregates of phosphorylated tau in the soma and neurites, as well as filamentous tau, as detected by immunoelectron microscopy. Inhibition of amyloid-? generation with ?- or ?-secretase inhibitors not only decreased amyloid-? pathology, but also attenuated tauopathy. We also found that glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) regulated amyloid-?-mediated tau phosphorylation. We have successfully recapitulated amyloid-? and tau pathology in a single 3D human neural cell culture system. Our unique strategy for recapitulating Alzheimer's disease pathology in a 3D neural cell culture model should also serve to facilitate the development of more precise human neural cell models of other neurodegenerative disorders.

Project description:The development of effective neuroprotective therapies for Parkinson's disease (PD) has been severely hindered by the notable lack of an appropriate animal model for preclinical screening. Indeed, most models currently available are either acute in nature or fail to recapitulate all characteristic features of the disease. Here, we present a novel progressive model of PD, with behavioural and cellular features that closely approximate those observed in patients. Chronic exposure to dietary phytosterol glucosides has been found to be neurotoxic. When fed to rats, β-sitosterol β-d-glucoside (BSSG) triggers the progressive development of parkinsonism, with clinical signs and histopathology beginning to appear following cessation of exposure to the neurotoxic insult and continuing to develop over several months. Here, we characterize the progressive nature of this model, its non-motor features, the anatomical spread of synucleinopathy, and response to levodopa administration. In Sprague Dawley rats, chronic BSSG feeding for 4 months triggered the progressive development of a parkinsonian phenotype and pathological events that evolved slowly over time, with neuronal loss beginning only after toxin exposure was terminated. At approximately 3 months following initiation of BSSG exposure, animals displayed the early emergence of an olfactory deficit, in the absence of significant dopaminergic nigral cell loss or locomotor deficits. Locomotor deficits developed gradually over time, initially appearing as locomotor asymmetry and developing into akinesia/bradykinesia, which was reversed by levodopa treatment. Late-stage cognitive impairment was observed in the form of spatial working memory deficits, as assessed by the radial arm maze. In addition to the progressive loss of TH+ cells in the substantia nigra, the appearance of proteinase K-resistant intracellular α-synuclein aggregates was also observed to develop progressively, appearing first in the olfactory bulb, then the striatum, the substantia nigra and, finally, hippocampal and cortical regions. The slowly progressive nature of this model, together with its construct, face and predictive validity, make it ideal for the screening of potential neuroprotective therapies for the treatment of PD.

Dataset Information

Recapitulating Parkinson's disease pathology in a three-dimensional human neural cell culture model.

Publications

Recapitulating Parkinson's disease pathology in a three-dimensional human neural cell culture model.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets