Blood neurofilament light chain levels are associated with disease progression in a transgenic SCA3 mouse model

Increased neurofilament light (NfL) protein in biofluids is reflective of neurodegeneration and has gained interest as a biomarker across neurodegenerative diseases. In spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), the most common dominantly inherited ataxia, patients exhibit progressive NfL increases in peripheral blood when becoming symptomatic, remaining stably elevated throughout further disease course. However, progressive NfL changes are not yet validated in relevant preclinical SCA3 animal models, hindering its application as a biomarker during therapeutic development. We used ultra-sensitive single-molecule array (Simoa) to measure blood NfL over disease progression in the YACQ84 mouse, assessing relationships with measures of disease severity including age, CAG repeat size, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We show that YACQ84 mice exhibit increased blood NfL, concomitant with ataxia-related motor deficits and correlated with neurometabolite abnormalities. Our findings establish natural history progression of NfL increases in the preclinical YACQ84 mouse, further supporting the utility of blood NfL as a peripheral neurodegeneration biomarker and informing coinciding timelines of different measures of SCA3 pathogenesis. Summary statementPeripheral blood of SCA3 YACQ84 mice exhibits increased abundance of neuronal-specific NfL protein directly associating with disease progression, providing an accessible disease biofluid biomarker to interrogate in preclinical therapeutic studies.