Figure 2. Immunohistochemical characterization of α–syn expression in conditional Tg mice (tTA/A53Tα–syn).

A, B, Representative coronal sections at five different levels of nTg (A) and tTA/A53Tα–syn (B) brains (postnatal day 14, P14) were stained with Syn303 antibody (brown) to detect α–syn. From left to right is anterior to posterior order, and the three sections in the top row are anterior to the bottom sections. Each letter in B indicates the area of image taken in C–J, roughly, but some of the images in C–J were not taken directly from the sections shown in B, but from sections at similar levels. Hematoxylin staining (blue) was used for nuclear counterstaining hereafter unless mentioned otherwise. C–J, α–syn expression in olfactory bulb (C), cortex (D), striatum (E), CA1 of the hippocampus (F), thalamus (G), ventral tegmentum area (H), substantia nigra (I) and cerebellum (J) of P14 tTA/A53Tα–syn mice. K–N, α–syn expression in the coronal sections of the hippocampal area of P1 mice using MAbs Syn303 (K, L) and LB509 (M,N). α–syn expression is prominent in tTA/A53Tα–syn mice (L, M) compared to nTg mice (K,M). O–R, α–syn expression in the coronal sections of hippocampal dentate gyrus (O,P) and CA1 (Q,R) of A53Tα–syn (O,Q) and tTA/A53Tα–syn (P,R) P7 mice. White arrows in P indicate α-syn positive cells in the inner cell layer (SGZ, subgranular zone), whereas black arrows indicate α-syn positive cells in the outer layer of the DG. OB, olfactory bulb; VTA, ventral tegmentum area; SN, substantia nigra; DG, dentate gyrus; CA1, Cornu Ammonis 1; CA3, Cornu Ammonis 3; SGZ, subgranular zone. Scale bar in B = 500µm, C~R= 20 µm