Optogenetic-mediated induction and monitoring of a-synuclein aggregation in cellular models of Parkinson's disease

Studying Parkinson's disease (PD) is complex due to a lack of cellular models mimicking key aspects of protein pathology. Here, we present a protocol for inducing and monitoring a-synuclein aggregation in living cells using optogenetics. We describe steps for plasmid transduction, biochemical validation, immunocytochemistry, and live-cell confocal imaging. These induced aggregates fulfill the cardinal features of authentic protein inclusions observed in PD -diseased brains and offer a tool to study the role of protein aggregation in neurodegeneration. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Be ' rard et al.1