Feasibility of combining alpha-synuclein aggregation and 6-OHDA in embryonic midbrain culture for modeling dopamine neuron degeneration

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by the loss of nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons and the presence of alpha-synuclein (αSyn)-positive Lewy body (LB) pathology. In this study, we attempted to recapitulate both these features in a novel in vitro model for PD. To achieve this, we combined the αSyn pre-formed fibril (PFF)-seeded LB-like pathology with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced mitochondrial toxicity in mouse embryonic midbrain cultures. To pilot the model for therapeutics testing, we assessed the effects of cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) on αSyn aggregation and neuron survival. PFF-seeded pathology did not lead to DA neuron loss even with the highest dose of PFFs. The combination of PFFs and 6-OHDA did not trigger additional neurodegeneration or LB–like pathology and instead presented DA neuron loss to a similar extent as with 6-OHDA only. CDNF did not affect the PFF-seeded αSyn pathology or the DA neuron survival in the combination model but showed a trend toward neuroprotection in the 6-OHDA-only cultures.