Synucleinopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple system atrophy (MSA). These diseases are characterized by the aggregation and deposition of α-synuclein (α-syn) in Lewy bodies (LBs) in PD and DLB or as glial cytoplasmic inclusions in MSA. In healthy brains, only ~4 % of α-syn is phosphorylated at Ser129 (pS129-α-syn), whereas > 90% pS129-α-syn may be found in LBs.
UCLA researchers led by Professor Gal Bitan of the Department of Neurology have developed a duplex assay for both total α-synuclein and pS129-α-synuclein, which allows measuring both analytes in the same sample, leading to substantial saving in sample volume. The assays can be widely used in methods for detecting pS129-α-syn in biomedical studies including when only a limited volume of sample is available and high sensitivity is required, offering new opportunities for diagnostic biomarkers, monitoring disease progression, and quantifying outcome measures in clinical trials.