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Marcus Davidsson

Marcus Davidsson

Postdoctoral fellow

Marcus Davidsson

Sequential or Simultaneous Injection of Preformed Fibrils and AAV Overexpression of Alpha-Synuclein Are Equipotent in Producing Relevant Pathology and Behavioral Deficits

Author

  • Matilde Negrini
  • Giuseppe Tomasello
  • Marcus Davidsson
  • Alexis Fenyi
  • Cécile Adant
  • Swantje Hauser
  • Elena Espa
  • Francesco Gubinelli
  • Fredric P. Manfredsson
  • Ronald Melki
  • Andreas Heuer
Show all

Summary, in English

Background: Preclinical rodent models for Parkinson's disease (PD) based on viral human alpha-synuclein (h-αSyn) overexpression recapitulate some of the pathological hallmarks as it presents in humans, such as progressive cell loss and additional synucleinopathy in cortical and subcortical structures. Recent studies have combined viral vector-based overexpression of human wild-type αSyn with the sequential or simultaneous inoculation of preformed fibrils (PFFs) derived from human αSyn. Objective: The goal of the study was to investigate whether sequential or combined delivery of the AAV vector and the PFFs are equipotent in inducing stable neurodegeneration and behavioral deficits. Methods: Here we compare between four experimental paradigms (PFFs only, AAV-h-αSyn only, AAV-h-αSyn with simultaneous PFFs, and AAV-h-αSyn with sequential PFFs) and their respective GFP control groups. Results: We observed reduction of TH expression and loss of neurons in the midbrain in all AAV (h-αSyn or GFP) injected groups, with or without additional PFFs inoculation. The overexpression of either h-αSyn or GFP alone induced motor deficits and dysfunctional dopamine release/reuptake in electrochemical recordings in the ipsilateral striatum. However, we observed a substantial formation of insoluble h-αSyn aggregates and inflammatory response only when h-αSyn and PFFs were combined. Moreover, the presence of h-αSyn induced higher axonal pathology compared to control groups. Conclusion: Simultaneous AAV and PFFs injections are equipotent in the presented experimental setup in inducing histopathological and behavioral changes. This model provides new and interesting possibilities for characterizing PD pathology in preclinical models and means to assess future therapeutic interventions.

Department/s

  • Behavioural Neuroscience Laboratory
  • Department of Experimental Medical Science
  • MultiPark: Multidisciplinary research focused on Parkinson´s disease
  • Molecular Neuromodulation
  • Basal Ganglia Pathophysiology

Publishing year

2022

Language

English

Pages

1133-1153

Publication/Series

Journal of Parkinson's Disease

Volume

12

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

IOS Press

Topic

  • Neurosciences

Keywords

  • AAV
  • alpha synuclein
  • behavioral deficits
  • dopamine
  • inflammation
  • motor deficits
  • Parkinson's disease
  • phosphorylated synuclein
  • preclinical rodent model
  • preformed fibrils

Status

Published

Research group

  • Behavioural Neuroscience Laboratory
  • Molecular Neuromodulation
  • Basal Ganglia Pathophysiology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1877-7171