Flow cytometry allows rapid detection of protein aggregates in cellular and zebrafish models of spinocerebellar ataxia 3

Spinocerebellar ataxia 3 (SCA3, also known as Machado–Joseph disease) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by inheritance of a CAG repeat expansion within the ATXN3 gene, resulting in polyglutamine (polyQ) repeat expansion within the ataxin-3 protein. In this study, we have identified protein aggregates in both neuronal-like (SHSY5Y) cells and transgenic zebrafish expressing human ataxin-3 with expanded polyQ. We have adapted a previously reported flow cytometry methodology named flow cytometric analysis of inclusions and trafficking, allowing rapid quantification of detergent insoluble forms of ataxin-3 fused to a GFP in SHSY5Y cells and cells dissociated from the zebrafish larvae. Flow cytometric analysis revealed an increased number of detergent-insoluble ataxin-3 particles per nuclei in cells and in zebrafish expressing polyQ-expanded ataxin-3 compared to those expressing wild-type human ataxin-3. Treatment with compounds known to modulate autophagic activity altered the number of detergent-insoluble ataxin-3 particles in cells and zebrafish expressing mutant human ataxin-3. We conclude that flow cytometry can be harnessed to rapidly count ataxin-3 aggregates, both in vitro and in vivo, and can be used to compare potential therapies targeting protein aggregates. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.