Figure 5. α-Syn modulates the expression of TfR and ferritin in cultured RPE cells.
(A & B) Lysates prepared from RPE cells transfected with siRNA for α-syn, control siRNA, and non-transfected controls were analyzed by Western blotting. Probing with specific antibodies shows 90% reduction in α-syn in cells transfected with α-syn siRNA as expected (A, lane 3 vs 1, 2). Notably, knock-down of α-syn results in 4-fold reduction in TfR and 2-fold reduction in ferritin relative to controls (lane 3 vs 1, 2; B). (C & D) Over-expression of α-syn in RPE cells results in 3.5-fold increase in TfR and 3.8-fold increase in ferritin expression relative to non-transfected and vector-transfected controls (C, lane 3 vs 1, 2; D). (n=3; ***p<0.001). Reaction for β-actin served as an internal control for protein loading in panels A and C. Values are mean ± SEM of the indicated n.
