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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Neurobiol Dis. 2015 Jun 17;82:185–199. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2015.06.003

Figure 6. Bilateral α-syn pathology in the striatum ultimately results in reduced striatal innervation, but not neuronal cell death.

Figure 6

(a, b). Representative images of serial coronal sections proceeding from rostral to caudal, left to right, top to bottom, illustrating the pSyn immunoreactivity (red) and TH intensity (green) 6-months post injection (pi) in a naïve control rat (a) and a α-syn PFF 1-site rat. (c). Using near infrared integrated intensity measurements, we evaluated the extent of dopamine denervation in the striatum resulting from 1-site PFF injected animals at 30d, 60d and 180d and compared to naïve control. In PFF injected rats there was a significant bilateral increase in TH intensity at 30d pi followed by a significant bilateral reduction in the TH intensity at 60d and 180d compared to naïve animals. *** p < 0.0001 compared to naïve, * p<0.01 compared to naive, # p<0.03 compared to either ipsi or contra striatum at 2 months. (d, e). To determine whether pSYN accumulation in the striatum results in neuronal cell death, we utilized stereology to determine the total neuronal population (NeuN) throughout the rostro-caudal striatum. NeuN staining showed no significant differences between the naïve-age-matched striatum (d) and the PFF-injected striatum (e). (f). Stereological quantification of NeuN counts in the striatum (ipsilateral to injection site) 6 months post-PFF injection (1-site) compared to naïve control. Data represent mean +/−SEM. Abbreviations: PFF= pre-formed α-syn fibrils, TH=tyrosine hydroxylase, pS129= α-syn phosphorylation at serine 129, contra=contralateral hemisphere (relative to injection site), ipsi=ipsilateral hemisphere (relative to injection site, NeuN=neuronal nuclei.