Background
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative movement disorder worldwide. The disease is associated with a progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the
substantia nigra pars compacta. An important neuropathological hallmark is the formation of eosinophilic inclusions called Lewy bodies (LB) and Lewy neurites in brains of PD patients, mainly consisting of aggregated alpha synuclein (aSyn), along with other proteins such as neurofilament subunits and ubiquitin [
1]. The etiology of PD has not been fully understood. Environmental factors and genetic variants, which are proposed to affect neuronal function and eventually lead to degenerative processes, have been linked to an increased risk for PD. In particular, molecular and cellular disturbances including oxidative stress, mitochondrial impairment, and abnormal protein processing have been closely associated with PD [
2].
Although the majority of PD cases are of unknown (sporadic) etiology, distinct genetic mutations of different genes account for approximately 10% of PD cases [
3]. In particular, five point mutations in the coding sequence of the aSyn gene (SNCA) have been linked to autosomal dominant inherited PD, including the intensively studied A53T, A30P, and E46K mutations [
4-
6], and the very recently discovered H50Q and G51D mutations [
7-
9]. In addition, duplication and triplication of SNCA have been identified in familial forms of PD [
10-
12], suggesting that overexpression of the aSyn protein disturbs neuronal homeostasis. Furthermore, genome wide association studies revealed that genetic variants of SNCA are closely linked to sporadic PD [
13,
14]. The pathological relevance of aSyn in PD is further supported by the observation that aggregated and posttranslational modified aSyn is the major protein component in LB [
15]. All these lines of evidence support a crucial role of aSyn, particularly of its aggregated forms, in the pathogenesis of PD.
Physiologically, aSyn is a soluble protein and is predominantly localized in neurons at presynaptic terminals in close proximity to synaptic vesicles [
16]. aSyn aggregation is a process, in which the physiological soluble aSyn proteins change in conformation to produce pathological aggregated forms. Aggregated aSyn species include oligomers and fibrils, characterized by increased beta sheet content, insolubility, and detergent resistance [
17]. Yet, it has not been clarified which factors trigger aggregation of aSyn and which aggregated aSyn species interfere with neuronal homeostasis in PD pathogenesis. Accumulating evidence supports that oxidative stress is an important modifier of aSyn aggregation. Oxidative stress is characterized by the accumulation of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS), which affect biomolecules, leading to posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of proteins and lipid peroxidation. Some of the generated aldehyde products during lipid peroxidation/degradation, such as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), are highly reactive to proteins and further trigger PTMs by forming aldehyde adducts on target proteins [
18]. We have recently shown that ROS/RNS and HNE modify aSyn and promote the aggregation of aSyn [
19]. Importantly, HNE modification of aSyn enhances the neurotoxicity of aSyn [
20,
21], in particular to human dopaminergic neurons [
19]. Using mass spectrometry, we identified histidine 50 (H50) of aSyn as one of the target residues of HNE modification. Interestingly, a novel SNCA mutation, resulting in an amino acid exchange of H50 with a glutamine residue (H50Q), was recently reported in two PD patients [
7,
9]. These converging lines of evidence suggest that alterations of H50, via either PTM or genetic mutation, influence the aggregation propensity of aSyn and eventually induce cell damage.
To elucidate the relevance of H50 for aSyn pathology, in particular for aSyn aggregation and cytotoxicity, we investigated the role of H50 in 1) HNE-mediated, and 2) H50 mutation-induced aSyn pathology. In addition to H50Q, we analyzed a PD-unrelated mutation in order to answer the question of whether the potential changes induced by the PD-related H50Q mutation are due to the loss of H50, or are attributed to the specific effect of the glutamine residue. To this end, we replaced H50 by an arginine residue (H50R), which belongs to the group of polar and basic amino acids like histidine. Our results show that both posttranslational and genetic modifications of aSyn at the specific H50 residue increase the aggregation propensity and toxicity of aSyn.
Discussion
In the present study, we used a dual approach to alter the H50 residue of aSyn, i.e. HNE-PTM and DNA mutation-induced H50 substitution. We provide an in vitro and cell-based characterization of the impact of these alterations on aSyn aggregation and toxicity, two important features of aSyn pathology, which are crucial for the pathogenesis of PD.
The relevance of HNE modification of aSyn in the pathogenesis of PD is strengthened by several lines of evidence: 1) Oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation are strongly associated with neurodegeneration in PD. HNE along with other reactive aldehyde products, such as glyoxal, malondialdehyde, and 4-oxo-2-nonenal (ONE), are important products of lipid peroxidation [
18]; 2) The level of HNE-modified proteins is enhanced in affected brain areas, particularly in aSyn containing LBs in PD and other neurodegenerative disorders with LB pathology [
24-
26]; 3) Several studies have shown that HNE readily modifies aSyn
in vitro and in cells exposed to HNE [
19,
20,
22]; and 4) HNE modification not only increases aggregation propensity of aSyn
in vitro, but HNE-modified aSyn also provokes neuronal damage when applied extracellularly to neurons [
19-
21]. However, the role of the different HNE target sites of aSyn in these HNE-mediated effects (e.g. aSyn modification, aggregation, and toxicity) has not yet been clarified. Among the possible target sites of HNE, H50 is of particular interest, because a novel aSyn point mutation affecting this residue (H50Q) has recently been reported in monogenic PD patients.
To elucidate the role of H50 in HNE aSyn modification, we analyzed HNE-treated WT and H50Q/R aSyn by using MALDI-TOF MS. The analysis of GluC-digested aSyn variants showed that the H50Q/R mutations completely abolish the modification of residue 50. Importantly, substitution of H50 remarkably reduced the susceptibility of aSyn to HNE modification, indicating that H50 is the initial and most reactive residue of aSyn for HNE addition. We have previously shown that HNE-modified aSyn is more prone to form soluble oligomers [
19]. Here, we observed significantly reduced formation of oligomers in H50 mutant aSyn compared to WT aSyn by using complementary assays for the analysis of oligomerization, i.e. SEC for the detection of soluble oligomers and SDS-PAGE for the detection of SDS-resistant oligomers. These findings suggest that H50 not only increases the reactivity of aSyn to HNE addition, but also plays a crucial role in HNE-induced aSyn oligomerization.
Based on previous findings showing that HNE modification increases the cytotoxicity of extracellularly applied aSyn [
19-
21] and that extracellular application of HNE causes HNE modification of intracellularly expressed aSyn [
22], we hypothesized that overexpression of aSyn increases the susceptibility of cells to HNE due to the formation of intracellular H50-dependent HNE-aSyn modification. To verify this hypothesis, we overexpressed WT and H50Q/R aSyn in H4 cells and compared cell susceptibility to HNE by using two complementary methods, i.e. MTS viability assay and flow cytometric analysis. Our results indicate that the substitution of H50, the most reactive residue for HNE modification, reduces the susceptibility of aSyn overexpressing cells to HNE-induced toxicity. Thus, our experiments not only provide evidence that H50 plays a crucial role for HNE-mediated modification and oligomerization of aSyn, but also suggest its implication in HNE-induced cytotoxicity, probably due to HNE modification of intracellular aSyn at the H50 residue.
The identification of the novel PD-associated aSyn H50Q mutation provides evidence for the relevance of aSyn H50 not only in sporadic but also in monogenic PD. Thus, we asked whether the H50 mutations intrinsically potentiate aSyn pathology, despite reducing HNE-mediated aSyn aggregation and toxicity, thereby supporting the pathogenicity of the novel reported H50Q mutation. We analyzed the effects of H50 mutations on aSyn aggregation both
in vitro using recombinant human aSyn, and in aSyn overexpressing cells. Analysis of the formation of amyloid fibrils in agitated aSyn samples using ThT assay demonstrated that H50Q mutation significantly increases the fibrillization of aSyn compared to WT aSyn, which is consistent with recent
in vitro studies [
27-
29]. In contrast to a recent study [
30], H50R did not significantly reduce fibrillization compared to WT aSyn in our experiments, likely due to different conditions for the fibrillization experiments (e.g. starting concentration of monomeric aSyn and buffer composition). In our study, the salt concentration in the aggregation buffer influenced the impact of the H50R aSyn mutation on fibrillization. Under physiological salt concentrations, H50R aSyn also showed higher fibrillization levels than WT aSyn, although less pronounced than H50Q aSyn. Consistently, we detected aSyn H50Q/R in the first high density fractions of SDGC, analogous to amyloid fibrils. These findings indicate that H50Q/R mutations intrinsically increase the propensity of aSyn to form larger aggregates. Yet, accumulating evidence suggests that small aggregation intermediates, especially oligomeric aSyn species, may be more toxic than large amyloid fibrils [
31-
33]. Therefore, in addition to fibrillization, we investigated the formation of oligomers. We did not detect soluble oligomers in unmodified recombinant WT aSyn and H50Q/R mutants by applying SEC. However, we were able to show that H50Q/R mutations, particularly the H50Q mutation, increased the formation of soluble aSyn oligomers in the presence of a nitrating agent, indicating that H50 mutant aSyn is more prone to form soluble oligomers under oxidative stress, characterized by accumulating ROS/RNS. Recently, it was shown that the H50Q mutation leads to a chemical shift within the C-terminal region (residue 135-140) of aSyn [
30], affecting tyrosine 136, one target site for nitration [
19]. Thus, H50 mutation may directly influence the accessibility or reactivity of this tyrosine residue to ROS/RNS, and consequently increase oligomerization propensity of aSyn in response to oxidative stress.
To validate our
in vitro observation concerning the influence of H50 mutations on aSyn aggregation, we analyzed the impact of these mutations on intracellularly overexpressed aSyn in H4 cells. In a very recent study, in which the oligomerization of various aSyn mutants/variants was examined in HEK cells by using Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC) assay, no significant differences between WT and H50Q aSyn have been detected [
34]. Interestingly, we observed an increase in H50Q aSyn immunosignal in higher density fractions of SDGC, suggesting an enhanced formation of oligomeric aSyn species in H4 cells. Taken together, our
in vitro and cell-based experiments suggest that H50Q mutation intrinsically increases aggregation propensity of aSyn when compared to WT. Yet, while H50Q aSyn tends to form larger fibrillar aggregates
in vitro as revealed by ThT and SDGC analysis, intracellularly overexpressed H50Q aSyn is more prone to the formation of oligomeric species as indicated by SDGC analysis. This discrepancy may be attributed to the presence of cellular factors that impact the aggregation kinetics of aSyn in cells, which is in accordance to our
in vitro finding that additional treatment of aSyn with a nitrating agent increases the propensity of H50 mutant aSyn to form oligomers. Moreover, protein degradation pathways may also influence aSyn aggregation. In particular, we have recently shown that oligomeric and higher aggregated aSyn species are differently processed by autophagy as a major protein degradation pathway [
33]. Therefore, intracelluar oligomerization of H50 mutant aSyn may be affected by autophagy associated pathways, which would be important to address in future studies.
To study the toxic effect of intracellularly expressed aSyn H50 mutants, we overexpressed WT and H50Q/R aSyn mutants in H4 cells by transient transfection. We generally observed a slight increase in cell damage due to H50Q/R mutations as measured either by ToxiLight toxicity or by MTS viability assay. In a more specific assessment of the direct effect of overexpressed aSyn on toxicity, we focused on aSyn overexpressing cells and analyzed the proportion of apoptotic cells among aSyn+ cells (aCasp3+/aSyn+). This specific cell death assay and the cell experimental conditions used in this study allowed us to detect a more pronounced toxic effect evoked by intracellularly overexpressed H50Q/R mutants, which was not revealed in other recent studies on pathological cellular effects of H50Q mutation [
27,
28]. We furthermore analyzed the influence of H50Q/R mutation on the H
2O
2-induced reduction of cellular viability. Our results showed that overexpression of H50Q/R mutant aSyn increases cellular susceptibility to H
2O
2 compared to WT aSyn. This finding is in agreement with a previous study observing this effect for H50Q aSyn in another cell model [
27]. Using a H
2O
2 concentration range between 100 - 500 μM, we noticed that the increase in cellular susceptibility to oxidative stress due to H50Q/R mutation is especially marked at a lower H
2O
2 concentration (i.e. 100 μM) when compared to WT aSyn. The difference in cellular susceptibility between aSyn H50 mutants and WT aSyn declines with increasing H
2O
2 concentrations (i.e. 200 - 500 μM). This might be explained by the occurrence of global damage under strong oxidative stress conditions. Thus, our results suggest that the aSyn H50 mutation particularly increases cellular susceptibility at comparatively low levels of oxidative stress. Taking into account that oxidative stress conditions potentiate the formation of aSyn oligomers in H50 mutant aSyn (particularly H50Q aSyn)
in vitro, our study indicates that the increased toxicity of H50Q/R mutant aSyn under oxidative stress might be associated with the formation of toxic oligomeric aSyn species.
Interestingly, H50Q/R mutant aSyn differentially influences cellular response to HNE and H2O2. Both stressors trigger cell death in a dose-dependent manner. However, while H50Q/R overexpressing cells appear to be more resistant to HNE than the WT aSyn overexpressing cells, they are more vulnerable to H2O2. These findings emphasize the role of H50 as an important HNE modification site in HNE-mediated toxicity, with particular relevance for sporadic PD. Additionally, the increased susceptibility to H2O2 due to H50 mutations suggests that the mechanistic role of the H50Q mutation in monogenic PD may rely on an altered neuronal response to general oxidative stress. To clarify whether H50 mutation generally increase cellular susceptibility to insults or whether this effect is specific to oxidative stress, further extensive studies are needed analyzing the impact of H50Q mutation under more specified oxidative stress and non-oxidative stress related conditions.
In this study, we substituted H50 by two amino acid residues with different chemical characteristics, i.e. the uncharged and polar glutamine and the basic arginine (like histidine). Both mutations impact aggregation behavior and toxicity of aSyn, although to a different extent. Thus, our results suggest that the effects of the PD-related H50Q mutation are attributed to the loss of a functional H50 residue rather than to a specific gain of function induced by the glutamine. Nevertheless, the H50R mutation appeared to be more toxic than the H50Q mutation, although H50R aSyn was less prone to aggregation than H50Q aSyn in vitro, and increased intracellular aggregation of H50R aSyn was not detectable by using SDGC. These interesting findings suggest that besides aggregation, other mechanisms affecting the physiological or pathological function of aSyn have to be considered when investigating H50-mutation dependent toxicity.
Methods
Site-directed mutagenesis
The QuikChange® Site-directed Mutagenesis Kit (Agilent Technologies, Waldbronn, Germany) was applied to generate both aSyn H50Q/R mutations in the coding sequence of WT aSyn in human aSyn pcDNA3.1 and pT7-7 constructs according to the manufacturer’s protocol. The mutation-covering, complementary primer sequences 5′ G GAG GGA GTG GTG CAG GGT GTG GCA ACA G 3′ and 5′ C TGT TGC CAC ACC CTG CAC CAC TCC CTC C 3′, as well as 5′ G GAG GGA GTG GTG CGT GGT GTG GCA ACA G 3′ and 5′ C TGT TGC CAC ACC ACG CAC CAC TCC CTC C 3′ were used to generate aSyn H50Q and H50R mutations, respectively.
Preparation of recombinant human aSyn and induction of PTMs
Constructs containing WT aSyn and aSyn H50 mutants were transformed in
E. coli BL21 (DE3) pLys competent cells (Novagen, San Diego, CA, USA). The preparation and purification of recombinant WT and H50Q/R mutant aSyn were performed as previously described [
19]. To induce nitration, recombinant aSyn of 70 μM was incubated with 5 mM tetranitromethane (TNM) in 30 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.4 at room temperature (RT) for 7 h. HNE-modified aSyn was generated by incubating aSyn with HNE concentrations ranging from 50 μM to 3000 μM in 30 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.4 at 37°C for 24 h.
Mass spectrometry
Detection of HNE-modified aSyn was performed by matrix-assisted laser-desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) as previously described [
19]. Briefly, for the digestion with GluC endoproteinase (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Penzberg, Germany) 3-5 μg recombinant aSyn and 500 ng GluC was dissolved in 50 mM NH
4HCO
3 and incubated overnight at RT. Full-length aSyn or GluC-digested protein samples were mixed with 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) (v/v) and MALDI matrix 2,5-dihydroxyacetophenone, spotted on a stainless steel target, and measured by a Bruker Autoflex (Bruker Daltonik, Bremen, Germany). Positive ions were analyzed in reflector mode after acceleration by 20 kV. External calibration was performed using a peptide calibration standard (Bruker Daltonik). Each displayed mass spectrum was produced by five individual spectra, which were generated by 50 shots/individual spectrum recorded from several positions on a spot. Spectra were analyzed using Flex Analysis software (Bruker Daltonik). Mass of aSyn ions or GluC-digested aSyn fragments are given in the mass of singly charged [M + H]
+ ions.
Size exclusion chromatography
Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) was applied to assess soluble oligomeric aSyn. Prior to SEC, samples were centrifuged at 100000 g for 60 min. aSyn species were separated on a SuperdexTM 75 10/300 column (GE Healthcare, Freiburg, Germany) using 30 mM Tris/HCl, 0.2 M NaCl, pH 7.4 as an eluent at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min and monitoring the UV absorbance at 280 nm. To ensure reproducibility between SEC runs, Gel Filtration Standard (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Munich, Germany) was used prior to each set of analysis.
In vitro fibrillization of aSyn and Thioflavin T assay
WT and H50Q/R mutant aSyn of 70 μM in 30 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.4 (100 μl per sample) were incubated in a 96-well plate and agitated at 200 rpm on a Controlled Environmental Incubator Shaker (New Brunswick Scientific INC, New Brunswick, NJ, USA) at 37°C for 7 d in the presence of glass beads with a diameter of 2 mm. For the detection of aSyn fibrils, 6 μg of agitated aSyn was diluted in 30 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.4 containing 20 μM ThT (Sigma-Aldrich, Taufkirchen, Germany) and incubated for 10 min at 300 rpm and RT in the dark. The fluorescence intensities were measured in a Varian Cary Eclipse fluorescence spectrophotometer (Agilent Technologies, Waldbronn, Germany) with an excitation at 445 nm and an emission at 480 nm. For quantification, values were normalized to the fluorescence intensity of non-agitated WT aSyn.
Electron microscopy
Electron microscopy (EM) was performed to analyze fibrillization of WT and H50 mutant aSyn. For negative staining, 10 μl of each agitated aSyn sample at a concentration of 70 μM were adsorbed onto glow-discharged carbon-coated Formvar grids (Electron Microscopy Sciences, Hatfield, PA, USA), incubated for 20 min, washed with distilled water, and then stained with a filtered 3% aqueous uranyl acetate solution for 5 min. After another washing step, grids were dried and analyzed with a transmission electron microscope (LEO 906E; Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany).
Cell culture, calcium-phosphate transfection, and cell treatment
H4 neuroglioma cells of human origin (ATCC, HTB-148) were maintained in Opti-MEM + GlutaMAX (51985-042, Invitrogen, Darmstadt, Germany) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS; 10270-106, Invitrogen, Darmstadt, Germany) at 37°C. 24 h prior transfection cells were plated in 24-well plates (3.5 × 10
4 cells/well) or in 6-well plates (2 × 10
5 cells/well) and cultured in 0.5 ml or 2 ml medium, respectively. Calcium-phosphate transfection was performed as previously described [
35]. Equimolar ratios of pcDNA3.1 plasmids encoding human WT, H50Q, and H50R aSyn were transfected under a cytomegalovirus promoter. Mock transfection without adding plasmid DNA served as control. The transfection efficiency was controlled by using flow cytometry. For the treatment experiments, H4 cells were exposed to different concentrations of HNE (50 – 3000 μM, Cayman Chemical Company, Ann Arbor, MI, USA) or H
2O
2 (100 - 500 μM, Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) 24 h after transfection for 12 h (HNE) or 24 h (H
2O
2), respectively. The stock solution of 64 mM HNE was prepared in ethanol. The stock solutions of HNE and H
2O
2 were freshly diluted in culture medium prior to treatment. Vehicle controls (ethanol or culture medium) were prepared in accordance to the highest HNE and H
2O
2 concentration used for the treatments.
Detection of aSyn transfection efficiency and expression levels via flow cytometry
H4 cells were seeded in 24-well plates (3.5 × 104 cells per well), transfected with pcDNA3.1 expression vectors encoding WT and H50Q/R mutant aSyn, and harvested 24 h after transfection. Cells were washed with PBS and fixed by using a 1:4 dilution of Fixation/Permeabilization Concentrate (eBioscience, Frankfurt, Germany) in Fixation/Permeabilization Diluent (eBioscience). Cells were washed with Permeabilization Buffer (eBioscience) and blocked for 15 min by using 10 μl of FcR Blocking Reagent (human, Miltenyi Biotech, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany). Detection of aSyn was performed by applying a rat anti-human aSyn primary antibody (1 h, 1:400, Enzo Life Sciences, ALX-804-258-L001, Lörrach, Germany) and an Alexa488-labeled donkey anti-rat secondary antibody (1 h, 1:800, A21208, Invitrogen, Darmstadt, Germany) diluted in Permeabilization Buffer. 20000 cells were detected to analyze aSyn transfection efficiency and the mean intensity of the aSyn signal via flow cytometry with a CyFlowR Space (Partec, Münster, Germany) and the FloMax 2.81 analysis and quantification software. The forward and sideward scatter signal was used to determine the population of single cells used for measurements. The cut-off fluorescence intensity for defining aSyn expressing cells was set by measuring mock transfected cells treated with the same staining protocol.
Assessment of toxicity and cell viability
Toxicity of aSyn transfected H4 cells was analyzed in 24-well plates by ToxiLight enzyme activity assay for membrane integrity (Lonza, Basel, Switzerland), and MTS viability assays (Promega, Mannheim, Germany) according to the manufacturer’s protocol, 36 h and 48 h after transfection, respectively.
In order to measure apoptotic cell death, activated (cleaved) Caspase 3 positive cells were assessed by ICC. For this, H4 cells were plated on 13 mm glass coverslips prior to transfection. 36 h after transfection, cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 15 min. Cells were washed with Tris buffered saline (TBS, pH 7.4) and blocked with fish skin gelatin buffer (FSGB) containing 50 mM Tris/HCl, pH 7.4, 1% BSA, 0.2% fish skin gelatin, and 0.1% Triton-X 100 for 1 h at RT. Cells were incubated with primary rat anti-human aSyn (1:250, Enzo Life Sciences, ALX-804-258-L001, Lörrach, Germany) and rabbit anti-aCasp3 (1:500, 9661, Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA) antibodies overnight at 4°C. After washing, Alexa 488-labeled donkey anti-rat secondary antibody (1:1000, A21208, Invitrogen, Darmstadt, Germany) and Alexa 568-labeled donkey anti-rabbit secondary antibody (1:1000, A10042, Invitrogen) were applied for 1 h at RT. Nuclei were counterstained with 4′6′-diamidino-2-phenylindol (DAPI, 1:10000, D8417, Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany) for 15 min. After washing, coverslips were mounted by using Prolong Antifade reagent (P36930, Invitrogen). The ratio of cells positive for aCasp3 (aCasp3+) among aSyn positive (aSyn+) cells was assessed in accordance to a systematic, random counting procedure [
19]. For image acquisition, Axio Imager M2 microscope combined with an AxioCam MRm camera (Carl Zeiss AG, Jena, Germany) with the same settings and exposure times within each independent experiment was used. Six images of each coverslip were randomly selected at 20 × magnification to enable the analysis of at least 200 aSyn positive cells per independent experiment. aSyn+ and aCasp3+ cells were scored based on the presence of immunostaining compared to the background staining of the corresponding controls.
SDS-PAGE and Western blot
For Western blot (WB) of recombinant aSyn, 0.5 μg aSyn was mixed with one volume of SDS sample buffer (0.125 M Tris/HCl pH 6.8, 4% SDS, 20% glycerol), separated on 15% SDS-PAGE, and blotted onto nitrocellulose membranes (Millipore, Darmstadt, Germany). The blots were probed with a mouse anti-aSyn primary antibody (Syn-1, 1:2000, BD Transduction Laboratories, San Diego, CA, USA) or a rabbit anti-aSyn antibody (SNCA antibody, 1:2000, Proteintech Europe, Manchester, UK). While Syn-1 was generated using aSyn fragment amino acids 15-123 as antigen, SNCA antibody was raised against full-length aSyn. The nitrocellulose membranes were subsequently probed with secondary goat-anti-mouse antibody or goat anti-rabbit antibody coupled to horseradish peroxidase (1:10000 Dianova, Hamburg, Germany). For the detection of proteins, membranes were incubated with the SuperSignal West Pico or Femto Sensitivity Substrate™ (Thermo Scientific Rockford, lL, USA). Immunoblots were visualized by VersaDoc gel imaging system (BioRad, Munich, Germany).
Sucrose density gradient centrifugation and dot blot
Sucrose density gradient centrifugation (SDGC) was performed as previously described [
36] with minor modifications. Briefly, a continuous 10 - 30% sucrose gradient (30 ml) in 25 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 0.2 M NaCl was prepared on top of the 60% sucrose cushion (4 ml). For analyzing recombinant aSyn samples, 30 μg of aSyn was loaded on top of the sucrose gradient. For analyzing aggregation of cellular expressed aSyn, H4 cells were seeded in a 6 well plate (2 × 10
5 cells per well) for transfection. Cells from 3 wells were collected 36 h after transfection via scraping in ice-cold PBS containing protease/phosphatase inhibitors and pooled for SDGC analysis. Subsequently, cell pellets were homogenized in 50 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.4 buffer containing 150 mM NaCl, 2 mM EDTA, 1% (v/v) NP-40, 0.1% (w/v) SDS, and complete mini protease inhibitors cocktail (Roche Diagnostics GmbH) in a Potter dounce homogenizer at 4°C. The lysates were loaded on top of the sucrose gradient. After centrifugation in a Beckman L-70 Ultracentrifuge with a SW-28 rotor (Beckman Coulter, Brea, CA, USA) at 26000 rpm for 18 h at 4°C, 22 sucrose fractions with 1.5 ml each were collected. 400 μl of each fraction were mixed with 100 μl methanol and spotted on a nitrocellulose membrane. After blocking the nitrocellulose membranes, aSyn was visualized using a mouse anti-aSyn primary antibody (Syn-1, 1:2000, BD Transduction Laboratories), and a HRP-conjugated goat anti-mouse secondary antibody (1:10000, Dianova). For the detection of aSyn in SDGC fractions, membranes were incubated with the SuperSignal West Pico or Femto Sensitivity Substrate™ (Thermo Scientific).
Statistical analysis
Statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA, USA). All numeric results are reported as mean + standard error of the mean (SEM) and represent data from a minimum of three independent experiments unless otherwise stated. Significant differences are depicted in the figures by graphical representation. p < 0.05 was considered as significant = *. p < 0.01 = **. p < 0.001 = ***.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’ contributions
WX and SM designed the study, performed the experiments, analyzed the results, and wrote the manuscript; JCMS carried out cell culture experiments and was involved in drafting the manuscript; HM performed cell culture experiments; ACH performed Western blot analysis of aSyn and was involved in drafting the manuscript; USS carried out EM analysis and was involved in drafting the manuscript; CMB and JW contributed to the design of the study, and drafting the manuscript; JK designed the study and was involved in analysis and interpretation of data, and drafting the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.