Isolation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles from archived alzheimer’s disease tissue using laser-capture microdissection for downstream proteomics

Abstract

Here, we describe a new method that allows localized proteomics of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which are the two pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Amyloid plaques and NFTs are visualized using immunohistochemistry and microdissected from archived, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) human tissue samples using laser-capture microdissection. The majority of human tissue specimens are FFPE; hence the use of this type of tissue is a particular advantage of this technique. Microdissected tissue samples are solubilized with formic acid and deparaffinized, reduced, alkylated, proteolytically digested, and desalted. The resulting protein content of plaques and NFTs is determined using label-free quantitative LC-MS. This results in the unbiased and simultaneous quantification of ~900 proteins in plaques and ~500 proteins in NFTs. This approach permits downstream pathway and network analysis, hence providing a comprehensive overview of pathological protein accumulation found in neuropathological features in AD.