Description
Tau aggregates are pathological assemblies of hyperphosphorylated tau protein, commonly observed in tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Tau is a microtubule-associated protein that stabilizes axonal microtubules under normal conditions. In disease states, abnormal post-translational modifications such as hyperphosphorylation cause tau to detach from microtubules and misfold into toxic oligomers and fibrils, forming neurofibrillary tangles. These aggregates disrupt neuronal transport, synaptic integrity, and contribute to neuroinflammation and cell death. Therapeutic efforts aim to inhibit Tau aggregation, enhance its clearance, or block its spread between neurons.
The AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra Human Tau Aggregate Detection Kit is a sandwich immunoassay for the quantitative detection of Tau Aggregate in cellular lysates, using Alpha Technology.
Formats:
The HV (high volume) kit contains reagents to run 100 wells in 96-well format, using a 60 μL reaction volume.
The 500-point kit contains enough reagents to run 500 wells in 384-well format, using a 20 μL reaction volume.
The 10,000-point kit contains enough reagents to run 10,000 wells in 384-well format, using a 20 μL reaction volume.
The 50,000-point kit contains enough reagents to run 50,000 wells in 384-well format, using a 20 μL reaction volume.
AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra kits are compatible with:
Cell and tissue lysates
Antibody modulators
Biotherapeutic antibodies
AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra kits can be used for:
Cellular kinase assays
Receptor activation studies
High-throughput screening for preclinical studies
AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra protein dimer / aggregate detection assay principle
The AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra dimer/aggregate assay measures the levels of a given protein in a dimeric, multimeric or any other aggregated form in a biological sample (e.g. cell lysate).
The assay uses a single antibody clone tagged with both CaptSure™ peptide and biotin, that recognizes exposed epitopes on the multivalent target protein. AlphaLISA assays require two bead types: Acceptor and Donor Beads. Acceptor Beads are coated with a proprietary CaptSure agent to specifically immobilize the antibody labeled with a CaptSure tag. Donor Beads are coated with streptavidin to capture the same specific antibody, which is biotinylated. In the presence of the multivalent protein, the two antibodies bring the Donor and Acceptor Beads in close proximity whereby the singlet oxygen transfers energy to excite the Acceptor Bead, allowing for the generation of a luminescent Alpha signal. The amount of light emission is directly proportional to the quantity of multimeric protein present in the sample.
AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra dimer / aggregate detection two-plate assay protocol
The two-plate protocol involves culturing and treating the cells in a 96-well plate before lysis, then transferring lysates into a 384-well OptiPlate™ plate before the addition of dimer or aggregate AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra detection reagents. This protocol enables cell viability and confluence to be monitored. In addition, lysates from a single well can be used to measure multiple targets.
AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra protein dimer / aggregate detection one-plate assay protocol
Detection of the dimer or aggregate with AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra reagents can be performed in a single plate used for culturing, treatment, and lysis. No washing steps are required. This HTS designed protocol allows for miniaturization while maintaining robust AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra quality.
Selectivity of Tau Aggregate assay
Tau Aggregate assay was assessed by assaying recombinant aggregated protein. Serial dilutions of recombinant Human Tau aggregate protein (Abcam ab246003) was prepared beginning at 100 ng/mL in Lysis Buffer and evaluated using the Tau Aggregate AlphaLISA SureFire Ultra assay.
For the detection step, 10 µL of protein was transferred into a 384-well white OptiPlate, followed by 5 µL of Acceptor mix and incubated for 1 hour at room temperature. Finally, 5 µL of Donor mix was then added to each well and incubated for 1 hour at RT in the dark. The plate was read on an Envision using standard AlphaLISA settings.
