Figure 4.
Nefh immunoreactivity is reduced in the conditional knock-out striatum. Shown is hematoxylin and eosin staining of RGS9LCre:PGC-1α+/+ and RGS9LCre:PGC-1αfl/fl striatum. The LI-COR Odyssey was used for volumetric analyses and to measure Nefh immunoreactivity (IR) intensity. A, Representative images for each genotype throughout the striatum are shown. B–D, No differences in striatal or hemispheric area nor ratio between the two were found in the RGS9LCre:PGC-1αfl/fl striatum compared with control. E, Quantification of Nefh-IR using the LI-COR Odyssey shows significant reduction in intensity. F, Although Nefh-IR is present striosomes of the RGS9LCre:PGC-1αfl/fl striatum (arrowheads), there is a loss of the lighter Nefh-IR in the striatal matrix (arrows), as visualized by confocal microscopy. n = 2 sections/slide, 12–14 slides/animal and 3–4 animals/genotype in A–E; n = 3–4 animals/genotype and 3–4 sections/animal were imaged in F. All settings were held constant across genotypes for microscopy images. *p < 0.05, two-way ANOVA and two-tailed t test in B–D; one-tailed t tests based a priori hypotheses in E. Data are presented as mean ± SEM.