Human Peripheral Blood Neutrophil Isolation for Interrogating the Parkinson's Associated LRRK2 Kinase Pathway by Assessing Rab10 Phosphorylation

Summary

Mutations in the leucine rich repeat kinase 2 gene (LRRK2) cause hereditary Parkinson’s disease. We have developed an easy and robust method for assessing LRRK2-controlled phosphorylation of Rab10 in human peripheral blood neutrophils. This may help identify individuals with increased LRRK2 kinase pathway activity.

Abstract

The leucine rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) is the most frequently mutated gene in hereditary Parkinson’ disease (PD) and all pathogenic LRRK2 mutations result in hyperactivation of its kinase function. Here, we describe an easy and robust assay to quantify LRRK2 kinase pathway activity in human peripheral blood neutrophils by measuring LRRK2-controlled phosphorylation of one of its physiological substrates, Rab10 at threonine 73. The immunoblotting analysis described requires a fully selective and phosphospecific antibody that recognizes the Rab10 Thr73 epitope phosphorylated by LRRK2, such as the MJFF-pRab10 rabbit monoclonal antibody. It uses human peripheral blood neutrophils, because peripheral blood is easily accessible and neutrophils are an abundant and homogenous constituent. Importantly, neutrophils express relatively high levels of both LRRK2 and Rab10. A potential drawback of neutrophils is their high intrinsic serine protease activity, which necessitates the use of very potent protease inhibitors such as the organophosphorus neurotoxin diisopropylfluorophosphate (DIFP) as part of the lysis buffer. Nevertheless, neutrophils are a valuable resource for research into LRRK2 kinase pathway activity in vivo and should be considered for inclusion into PD biorepository collections.

Introduction

Attempts to slow or stop Parkinson’s disease (PD) have thus far failed. The discovery of hyperactivating mutations in the leucine rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) that cause and/or increase the risk for PD has led to the development of LRRK2 kinase inhibitors^1,2,3. These have now entered clinical trials⁴. The exact function of LRRK2 is unclear, but a major advancement has been the identification of a subset of Rab GTPase proteins, including Rab10, as the first bona fide physiological substrates of the LRRK2 kinase^5,....

Protocol

According to local UK regulation all manipulations and pipetting of human blood are undertaken in a category 2 biological safety cabinet. All procedures were performed in compliance with local ethics review board and all participants have provided informed consent.

1. Preparation

1. Prepare 0.1 mL of EDTA Stock Solution 1 containing 100 mM EDTA in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS).
2. Prepare 60 mL of EDTA Stock Solution 2 containing 1 mM EDTA in PBS.
3. Prepare lysis buff.......

Discussion

Compelling clinical, genetic, and biochemical evidence points towards an important role for LRRK2 and in particular its kinase function in Parkinson’s disease⁷. LRRK2 kinase inhibitors have been developed and are entering clinical trials^2,4,12. As such there is a need for exploiting LRRK2 as a biomarker for target engagement as well as patient stratification. Our protocol describes a robust and easy.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
1 mL Pipette tips	Sarstedt	70.762	or equivalent
1.5 mL Micro tubes	Sarstedt	72.690.001	or equivalent
10 mL Pipette tips	Sarstedt	86.1254.025	or equivalent
10 μL Pipette tips	Sarstedt	70.113	or equivalent
15 mL falcon tube	Cellstar	188 271	or equivalent
200 μL Pipette tips	Sarstedt	70.760.002	or equivalent
25 mL Pipette tips	Sarstedt	86.1685.001	or equivalent
50 mL falcon tube	Cellstar	227 261	or equivalent
BD Vacutainer Hemogard Closure Plastic K2-EDTA Tube	BD	BD 367525	or equivalent
Beckman Coulter Allegra X-15R centrifuge	Beckman		or equivalent centrifuge with swimging bucket rotator for 15 mL and 50 mL falcon tubes at speed 1000-1200 x g
Category 2 biological safety cabinet.
cOmplete(EDTA-free) protease inhibitor cocktail	Roche	11836170001
DIFP (Diisopropylfluorophosphate)	Sigma	D0879	Prepare 0.5M stock solution in isopropanol using special precautions
Dimethyl sulfoxide	Sigma	6250
Dry ice or liquid nitrogene
Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline	ThermoFisher	14190094	or equivalent
Easy 50 EasySep Magnet	Stemcell	18002	for holding 1 x 50ml conical tube
EasySep Direct Human Neutrophil Isolation Kit	Stemcell	19666	This contains Solutions called “Isolation Cocktail” and “RapidSpheres magnetic beads
EGTA	Sigma	E3889
Eppendorf centrifuge 5417R centrifuge	Eppendorf
Ethanol, in spray bottle
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid	Sigma	E6758
Ice
Isopropanol (anhydrous grade)	Sigma	278475
Lysis buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.5, 1%(v/v) Triton X-100, 1 mM EGTA, 1 mM Na3VO4, 50 mM NaF, 10 mM β-glycerophosphate, 5 mM sodium pyrophosphate, 0.27 M sucrose, 0.1% (v/v) β-mercaptoethanol, 1x cOmplete(EDTA-free) protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche), 1 μg/ml Microcystin-LR, 0.5 mM diisopropylfluorophosphate (DIFP).			alternatively frozen lysis buffer in aliquots without Microcystin-LR, DIFP available from MRC-PPU Reagents (http://mrcppureagents.dundee.ac.uk/)
Merck LRRK2 inhibitor II (MLi-2)	Merck	438194-10MG	or equivalent (potent and selective LRRK2 inhinitor)
Microcystin-LR	Enzo Life Sciences	ALX-350-012-M001	1 mg/ml stock in DMSO and store at -80 oC.
Na3VO4	Aldrich	450243
NaF	Sigma	S7920
Odyssey CLx scan Western Blot imaging system	Odyssey
Permanent marker pen
Personal protection equipment
RPMI 1640 Medium	ThermoFisher	21875034	or equivalent
sodium pyrophosphate	Sigma	S22
sucrose	Sigma	S0389
β-glycerophosphate	Sigma	50020
β-mercaptoethanol	Sigma	M3148
Suggested antibodies for Western blotting
Anti-RAB10 (phospho T73) antibody [MJF-R21]	abcam	ab230261
Anti-α-tubulin	Cell Signaling Technologies	5174	used at 1:2000 dilution
Goat anti-mouse IRDye 680LT	LI-COR	926-68020	used at 1:10,000 dilution
Goat anti-mouse IRDye 800CW	LI-COR	926-32210	used at 1:10,000 dilution
Goat anti-rabbit IRDye 800CW	LI-COR	926-32211	used at 1:10,000 dilution
MJFF-total Rab10 mouse antibody	generated by nanoTools (nanotools.de)	not applicable*	used at 2 μg/ml final concentration; * The MJFF-total Rab10 antibody generated by nanoTools (www.nanotools.de) [11] will be commercialised by the Michael J Fox Foundation in 2018
Mouse anti-LRRK2 C-terminus antibody	Antibodies Incorporated	75-253	used at 1 μg/ml final concentration
pS935-LRRK2	MRC PPU Reagents and Services	UDD2	MJFF-total Rab10 mouse antibody