News Release

Research Article Cite Cleanascite™ To Elucidate the Role of Lipid-Secreted Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ, March 28, 2024 -- Biotech Support Group reports on an article, describing the simplicity and efficiency of their lipid clearance sample preparation technology to determine the role of lipid-associated factors in the brain’s primary resident immune cells – the microglia, and the secretion of toxic long-chain lipids that impair neuron and oligodendrocyte homeostasis. The citation is:

Flury, Anna, et al. "Integrated stress response associated with dark microglia promotes microglial lipogenesis and contributes to neurodegeneration." bioRxiv (2024): 2024-03.

Microglia, the brain’s primary resident immune cells, are a heterogeneous population and can assume phenotypes with diverse functional outcomes on brain homeostasis. In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), where microglia are a leading causal cell type, microglia subsets with protective functions have been well characterized. Yet, the identity of microglia subsets that drive neurodegeneration remains unresolved. Mechanistically, evidence is presented that the integrated stress response (ISR) promotes the secretion of toxic long-chain lipids that impair neuron and oligodendrocyte homeostasis in vitro.

FASN protein levels are induced in the brains of both AD mice and AD patients, and FASN-positive cells are frequently located around plaques in postmortem AD brains. Therefore, the authors investigated whether FASN-produced fatty acids may contribute to the toxic effects of SLB-conditioned media. The authors inhibited FASN in BV2 cells by co-treating them with SLB and FASN inhibitor C7579. As an alternative approach, the authors removed fatty acids, lipoproteins, lipid-membrane bodies, and other lipids from the SLB-conditioned media using an adsorbent resin.

For the latter purpose, the article states “Lipid depletion of Conditioned Media (CM) was done using Cleanascite™ (Biotech Support Group #X2555) following the manufacturer’s recommendations. Briefly, 1:4 of the Cleanascite™ reagent was added to the CM, incubated for 10 min at room temperature, mixed periodically, and then centrifuged at 1,600 g for 2 min. The supernatant was carefully collected, centrifuged again, and filtered through a 0.22 µm-syringe filter before applying it to recipient cells.”. Both approaches to eliminate fatty acids in the SLB-conditioned media prevented its toxic effects on inducing ISR associated OPC apoptosis and neuronal hyperactivity and cell loss.

The authors conclude that ISR promotes lipid synthesis pathways in vivo and microglial secretion of long-chain lipids in vitro. The microglia-secreted lipids impair neuron and oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) homeostasis and survival. Small molecule inhibition of fatty acid synthesis in AD models prevents neurodegenerative synaptic protein loss. Together, these results identify ISR-activated microglia as a neurodegenerative phenotype and reveal lipid secretion as a novel mechanism of microglia-mediated neurotoxicity.

“We now have over thirty references, showing Cleanascite™ use in helping to identify a characteristic feature of in vitro cell response. Unlike alternative lipid-depletion methods that use solvents, Cleanascite™ is an aqueous suspension product and so it is very compatible with cellular models of disease. The essential requirement is that it maintains cellular activity, while selectively depleting lipid factors. This ultimately helps with investigations such as this, to determine whether lipid factors are associated with phenotypic changes in cultured cells” states Swapan Roy, Ph.D., President and Founder of Biotech Support Group.

Download whitepaper entitled “Cleanascite™ - Lipid Removal and Cell Response Applications”, visit:

For more information visit: Cleanascite™ Lipid Removal Reagent and Clarification, at
http://www.biotechsupportgroup.com/Cleanascite-Lipid-Removal-Reagent-p/x2555.htm

Keywords: Lipid depletion, Cleanascite™, Microglia, Alzheimer’s Disease, integrated stress response, FASN-positive cells

About Biotech Support Group LLC

Converging with cultural and technological disruptions forthcoming in healthcare, Biotech Support Group develops methods for cost effective and efficient sample prep essential for these expanding markets. Following a tiered business strategy, the company continues its growth in the consumable research products area supporting the rapidly expanding installation of LC-MS instrument and computational infrastructure. For this market, key products include: AlbuVoid™ and AlbuSorb™ PLUS for albumin & IgG depletion, Cleanascite™ for lipid adsorption, HemogloBind™ and HemoVoid™ for hemoglobin removal, and NRicher™ for low abundance and family specific proteome enrichment. For more information, go to http://www.biotechsupportgroup.com.

For Business Development, contact: Matthew Kuruc 732-274-2866, mkuruc@biotechsupportgroup.com