Autoclave treatment fails to completely inactivate DLB alpha-synuclein seeding activity

Abstract

Synucleinopathies are characterized by the deposition of alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) aggregates in brain tissue. Pathological alpha-syn aggregates propagate in a prion-like manner and display prion-like biochemical properties. Using RT-QuIC, we measured alpha-syn seeding activity from brains of Dementia with Lewy body (DLB) patients post autoclave. Here, we show that autoclaving at 121 degrees C removes one to two log(10) of alpha-syn seeding activity but the remaining 50% seeding dose (SD50) is more than 10(7)/mg tissue. DLB brain samples autoclaved at 132 degrees C still revealed an SD50 of approximately 10(6)/mg tissue. Our data suggest that DLB alpha-syn seeds are incompletely inactivated by standard autoclave, thus highlighting the need for evaluating laboratory procedures that fully inactivate them.