Overexpression of α-Synuclein by Oligodendrocytes in Transgenic Mice Does Not Recapitulate the Fibrillar Aggregation Seen in Multiple System Atrophy

The synucleinopathy underlying multiple system atrophy (MSA) is characterized by the presence of abundant amyloid inclusions containing fibrillar alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) aggregates in the brains of the patients and is associated with an extensive neurodegeneration. In contrast to Parkinson's disease (PD) where the pathological alpha-syn aggregates are almost exclusively neuronal, the alpha-syn inclusions in MSA are principally observed in oligodendrocytes (OLs) where they form glial cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs). This is intriguing because differentiated OLs express low levels of alpha-syn, yet pathogenic amyloid alpha-syn seeds require significant amounts of alpha-syn monomers to feed their fibrillar growth and to eventually cause the buildup of cytopathological inclusions. One of the transgenic mouse models of this disease is based on the targeted overexpression of human alpha-syn in OLs using the PLP promoter. In these mice, the histopathological images showing a rapid emergence of S129-phosphorylated alpha-syn inside OLs are considered as equivalent to GCIs. Instead, we report here that they correspond to the accumulation of phosphorylated alpha-syn monomers/oligomers and not to the appearance of the distinctive fibrillar alpha-syn aggregates that are present in the brains of MSA or PD patients. In spite of a propensity to co-sediment with myelin sheath contaminants, the phosphorylated forms found in the brains of the transgenic animals are soluble (>80%). In clear contrast, the phosphorylated species present in the brains of MSA and PD patients are insoluble fibrils (>95%). Using primary cultures of OLs from PLP-alpha Syn mice we observed a variable association of S129-phosphorylated alpha-syn with the cytoplasmic compartment, the nucleus and with membrane domains suggesting that OLs functionally accommodate the phospho-alpha-syn deriving from experimental overexpression. Yet and while not taking place spontaneously, fibrillization can be seeded in these primary cultures by challenging the OLs with alpha-syn preformed fibrils (PFFs). This indicates that a targeted overexpression of alpha-syn does not model GCIs in mice but that it can provide a basis for seeding aggregation using PFFs. This approach could help establishing a link between alpha-syn aggregation and the development of a clinical phenotype in these transgenic animals.