Volume 210, 2018

Real-time determination of aggregated alpha-synuclein induced membrane disruption at neuroblastoma cells using scanning ion conductance microscopy

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is recognized as the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and has affected approximately one million people in the United States alone. A large body of evidence has suggested that deposition of aggregated alpha-synuclein (α-Syn), a brain protein abundant near presynaptic termini, in intracellular protein inclusions (Lewy bodies) results in neuronal cell damage and ultimately contributes to the progression of PD. However, the exact mechanism is still unclear. One hypothesis is that α-Syn aggregates disrupt the cell membrane’s integrity, eventually leading to cell death. We used scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) to monitor the morphological changes of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and observed dramatic disruption of the cell membrane after adding α-Syn aggregates to the culturing media. This work demonstrates that SICM can be applied as a new approach to studying the cytotoxicity of α-Syn aggregates.

Graphical abstract: Real-time determination of aggregated alpha-synuclein induced membrane disruption at neuroblastoma cells using scanning ion conductance microscopy

Associated articles

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Mar 2018
Accepted
30 Apr 2018
First published
30 Apr 2018

Faraday Discuss., 2018,210, 131-143

Real-time determination of aggregated alpha-synuclein induced membrane disruption at neuroblastoma cells using scanning ion conductance microscopy

S. Wong Su, A. Chieng, J. Parres-Gold, M. Chang and Y. Wang, Faraday Discuss., 2018, 210, 131 DOI: 10.1039/C8FD00059J

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