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ALZHEIMER AND PARKINSON NEW DIAGNOSTICS

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A study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences shows a quick and cost-effective way to diagnose Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease by direct chemical conversion of fibroblasts into neurons.

A joint study between the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, IRCCS San Raffaele Rome and CNR – Institute of Translational Pharmacology – has developed an innovative method that could, in the future, find application in clinical practice.

This work concerns the direct chemical reprogramming of patients’ fibroblasts into neurons (chemically induced neurons, ciN) for the rapid detection of pathological markers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD).
After digesting the skin biopsy with suitable enzymes, a primary culture of fibroblasts is obtained. The latter are subsequently treated with a specific chemical cocktail and a neuronal induction medium. This experiment is carried out in a high precision microfluidic system that allows the manipulation of very small quantities of fluids.
For the differential diagnosis a conventional immunofluorescence is performed on the obtained ciNs, using TUB III as neuronal marker, α-synuclein as marker for PD and β-amyloid as marker for AD.
Thanks to immunofluorescence techniques, it is possible to distinguish ciN derived from healthy subjects (CT) and ciN derived from patients with familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD) and PD.
Confocal microscopy images show how ciN PD have a strong signal for α-synuclein compared to ciN CT and FAD. Whereas, ciN FADs show a strong signal for β-amyloid compared to ciN CT and PD.

Mollinari et al InT J MoL Sci 2022

Detection of Pathological Markers of Neurodegenerative Diseases following Microfluidic Direct Conversion of Patient Fibroblasts into Neurons”. Cristiana Mollinari et al.; Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23, 2147

The data obtained by authors are promising!

Immunofluorescence is a technique already used for the diagnosis of tumors from biopsies and integrating this new method could open new avenues for the phenotypic analysis of neurodegenerative diseases and an important diagnostic window for earlier interventions.
If you want to know more, read the article here “Detection of Pathological Markers of Neurodegenerative Diseases following Microfluidic Direct Conversion of Patient Fibroblasts into Neurons” Mollinari C. et al.; Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23, 2147. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23042147

Mollinari et al InT J MoL Sci 2022_