FIGURE 5.

Sodium phenylbutyrate prevented mouse dopamine neuron death after MPTP lesion. A–H, adult C57BL/6 mice (4–6 months old) were treated with PB (1000 mg/liter, 5.4 mm) in drinking water for 2 weeks, followed by 4 injections of MPTP at 2-h intervals (20 mg/kg, intraperitoneal). The mice were sacrificed 7 days after MPTP injections. A, dopamine content in mouse striatum tissues were measured by HPLC (6 mice per group, *, p < 0.05 compared with MPTP alone). B–D, striatal TH and DJ-1 protein levels were measured by Western blotting, with sample images shown in B. C–D, quantitative data of TH and DJ-1 levels (n = 6, **, p < 0.01 compared with MPTP alone). E, mouse brains were fixed, and sections were immunostained with TH antibody. The number of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra was determined using unbiased counting methods (n = 5, *, p < 0.05 compared with MPTP alone). F–H, sample images are shown with TH immunostaining in the substantia nigra in three groups of mice. Bar length, 1 mm for F–H.