DGLA, but not
other ω-3 and ω-6 PUFAs, induces degeneration,
specifically in dopaminergic neurons. (A) Structure of different ω-6
and ω-3 PUFAs examined in this study. (B) Percentage (%) of
worms with healthy dopaminergic neurons for Pdat-1::gfp with and without supplementation with 100 μM of different
ω-6 and ω-3 PUFAs. (C) Fluorescent images of Pdat-1::gfp worms with healthy and degenerated dopaminergic neurons (white arrows
represent healthy neurons, and red arrows show degenerated/disappeared
neurons). (D) Dose response curve: the effect of different DGLA concentrations
on degeneration of ADE neurons on day 1 adulthood. (E) Comparison
of the ADE neuron degeneration in Pdat-1::gfp and Pcat-2::gfp supplemented with 100 μM DGLA. (F) Fluorescent
images of Pcat-2::gfp worms with healthy and degenerated
dopaminergic neurons (white arrows represent healthy neurons, and
red arrows show degeneration/disappearance of neurons). (G) Percentage
(%) of worms with healthy GABAergic neurons for Punc-25::gfp with and without supplementation with 100 μM DGLA. (H) Fluorescence
images of Punc-25::gfp worm with healthy and degenerated
GABAergic neurons (red arrows show different signs of neurodegeneration
including ventral cord break, commissure break, and branches). (I)
Percentage (%) of worms with healthy cholinergic neurons for Punc-17::gfp with and without supplementation with 100 μM
DGLA. (J) Fluorescence images of Punc-17::gfp worms
with healthy and degenerated cholinergic neurons (red arrows show
different signs of neurodegeneration including ventral cord break,
commissure break, and branches). (K) Thrashing on day 8 adulthood
of wild-type raised on 100 μM LA, DGLA, and EPA. (L) Percentage
(%) of worms with healthy glutamatergic neurons with Peat-4::gfp with and without supplementation with 100 μM DGLA. (M) Fluorescent
images of Peat-4::gfp worms with healthy and degenerated
glutamatergic neurons (white arrows represent healthy neurons, and
red arrows show degenerated/disappeared neurons). All supplementations
were done at the L4 stage. For all experiments, N = 3, and about 20 worms were tested on each trial. Two-way analysis
of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s multiple comparison test for
panels B and D; t test for K: *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001, ****P < 0.0001, nonsignificant
is not shown.