Figure 1

Using BiFC-induced fluorescence to monitor neuron-to-neuron transfer of a-synuclein. (A) Model of BiFC-induced fluorescence following transfer of BiFC1 molecules (full-length WT α-syn tagged with N-terminus EGFP) expressed in cells under the control of the ddr-2 promoter to cells expressing BiFC2 molecules (full-length WT α-syn tagged with C-terminus EGFP) under the control of the tph-1 promoter, and vice-versa. BiFC1 and BiFC2 molecules combine following α-syn transfer and dimerization resulting in the fluorescence of the now functional EGFP molecule. (B) Schematic of some of the neurons involved in cell-to-cell transfer of BiFC-tagged α-syn in our model. Boxes represent BiFC-1-expressing neurons (orange), BiFC-2-expressing neurons (blue) or several non-BiFC expressing intermediate neurons (grey). VNC = Ventral Nerve Cord, DNC = Dorsal Nerve Cord.