Preventing the formation of insoluble polyglutamine containing protein aggregates in neurons may represent an attractive therapeutic strategy to ameliorate Huntington's disease (HD). Therefore, the ability to screen for small molecules that suppress the self-assembly of huntingtin would have potential clinical and significant research applications. We have developed an automated filter retardation assay for the rapid identification of chemical compounds that prevent HD exon 1 protein aggregation in vitro. Using this method, a total of 25 benzothiazole derivatives that inhibit huntingtin fibrillogenesis in a dose-dependent manner were discovered from a library of Ϸ184,000 small molecules. The results obtained by the filter assay were confirmed by immunoblotting, electron microscopy, and mass spectrometry. Furthermore, cell culture studies revealed that 2-amino-4,7-dimethylbenzothiazol-6-ol, a chemical compound similar to riluzole, significantly inhibits HD exon 1 aggregation in vivo. These findings may provide the basis for a new therapeutic approach to prevent the accumulation of insoluble protein aggregates in Huntington's disease and related glutamine repeat disorders.
Cathodoluminescence and fluorescence microscopy have been used to study vasogenic edema in experimentally induced brain tumors in rats. Both methods are suited for the demonstration of FITC- or TRITC-coupled antiserum, and thus allow the evaluation of serum protein extravasation. Cathodoluminescence is more time consuming and laborious than fluorescence microscopy, but it has distinct advantages: Contrast enhancement improves the differentiation between certain cell types, and the higher resolution of the scanning electron microscope allows the identification of subcellular regions which cannot be recognized by conventional fluorescence microscopy.
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