Figure 4.

Inhibition of caspases in the GDNF- or BDNF-deprived dopaminergic neurons. GDNF- or BDNF-deprived (GDNF−, BDNF−) or -maintained (GDNF+, BDNF+) neurons were transfected with dominant-negative (DN) mutants of indicated caspases (together with the plasmid for EGFP) and maintained with or without neurotrophic factors for 3 d. The numbers of fluorescent neurons counted at the end of the experiment were normalized to those counted at the factor deprivation. Transfected non-TH neurons, identified by post hoc TH immunostaining, were subtracted from the counts. The means ± SEM of four independent experiments are shown. Data of each DN caspase were compared with control plasmid pCDNA3 (vector) by one-way ANOVA and post hoc Dunnett's t test. The null hypothesis was rejected at p < 0.05.