Now available on the StressMarq blog! Watch StressMarq’s very own Dr. Jacob McPhail present his talk at the 2022 Labroots Neuroscience online conference.

Abstract

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases (AD, PD) are the two most common neurodegenerative disorders. Despite their debilitating effects and increasing prevalence in our society, no cure is known. Both diseases are characterized by the presence of aggregates in the brain, which include alpha-synuclein, tau and amyloid beta proteins. These proteins normally have distinct functions in neurons, yet they share a common pathological mechanism involving aggregation into oligomers and fibrils that form plaques in the brain.  Alpha-synuclein, tau and amyloid beta aggregates are associated with neuronal cell death and seed additional plaques as disease progresses. A key goal in advancing AD/PD drug discovery is developing disease models that effectively mimic the pathology observed in vivo.

StressMarq has developed consistent, scalable production methods to generate active alpha-synuclein, tau and amyloid beta oligomers and fibrils in vitro. We demonstrate that recombinant alpha synuclein aggregates are toxic to primary cortical neuron cultures, are transferred between neurons, and induce Parkinson’s pSer129 pathology in mouse brains. Further, we show that recombinant tau aggregates induce Alzheimer’s pSer202/pThr205 pathology in mouse brains, and synthetic amyloid beta aggregates are toxic to primary rat cortical neurons.  These molecular tools demonstrate exciting utility for seeding pathology in AD/PD disease models and facilitating primary research and drug discovery.

Products for Neurodegenerative Disease Research

StressMarq Biosciences’ strategic efforts are currently focused on being a world leader in the development and supply of fibrilized proteins (and their derivatives), protein oligomers, and antibodies to these constructs to assist researchers studying Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Our most recent product release includes synthetic amyloid beta monomers, oligomers and pre-formed fibrils.