FIGURE 3.

Effects of folic acid (FA) on α‐synuclein (α‐syn) downregulation in patient‐derived dopaminergic neurons (MD‐DNs). Dental pulp stem cells were differentiated into DNs in the absence or presence of FA. (A) α‐syn expression in DNs was measured by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) and western blotting. The mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) was obtained from three independent experiments. n.s., not significant. (B) Immunofluorescence microscopy was used to visualize DNs using anti‐α‐syn and anti‐Tom20 antibodies, a mitochondrial marker. Nuclei were counterstained with 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI). Scale bars = 20 μm. Boxed regions on the merged images are shown at a greater magnification in the right panels. Scale bars = 5 μm. Tom20 and α‐syn colocalization were analyzed through Mander's coefficient. Fifteen DNs were analyzed in each case. The mean ± SEM was obtained from three independent experiments. In total, 12 pictures from three experiments were analyzed in each case.