Dopamine facilitates α-synuclein oligomerization in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells

Parkinson's disease is characterized by selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and by the appearance of Lewy bodies. Fibrillar α-synuclein is the main component of Lewy bodies. Previous studies have suggested that dopamine promotes α-synuclein oligomerization and that partially aggregated or oligomeric α-synuclein could be cytotoxic. To confirm this hypothesis using cell cultures, we performed size exclusion chromatography as a pretreatment method prior to Western blotting to more clearly detect a small amount of α-synuclein oligomers in wild-type α-synuclein-overexpressing SH-SY5Y cells. Using this method, we confirmed that stable overexpression of α-synuclein in SH-SY5Y cells indeed increased the amounts of α-synuclein oligomers in these cells and exposure of the cells to dopamine for 6 h facilitated α-synuclein oligomerization. These dopamine-induced α-synuclein oligomers continued to exist for the following 24 h. However, the dopamine-treated cells did not undergo cell death or apoptosis in spite of the presence of increased oligomeric α-synuclein. Our data may contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying α-synuclein oligomer formation and its suspected cytotoxicity toward dopaminergic neurons.