Life Sciences Commons^™

Characterization Of A Split-Nluc Assay For Monitoring Changes In Alpha-Synuclein Solubility In Living Cells, Baolong Truong

Honors Theses

Alpha-synuclein is the primary constituent of Lewy Bodies, protein aggregates associated with Parkinson’s Disease, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, and Multiple Systems Dystrophy. Given the terminal nature of these synucleinopathies, the need for an assay that can report on alpha-synuclein aggregation levels in living systems is critical. Western blotting represents one potential approach to this problem; however, this technique can often be limited by selectivity of available antibodies and experimental reproducibility. Herein, we describe a novel luminescence-based assay capable of detecting alpha-synuclein solubility in bacterial cells. This platform can report on the influence of disease-relevant mutations and small molecules. Antibodies are …