Fig. 1.

Expression of transgenic 1–120 hαSyn in MI2 mice. a 1–120 hαSyn transgene construct used for generating the MI2 mice. b Immunoblots showing αSyn in lysates from cerebellum (Cbl), cortex (Ctx), substantia nigra (SN), striatum (Str) and olfactory bulbs (OB) of 1.5 month-old mice following short (short exp) and long (long exp) exposure times. Quantification was performed for SN, Str and OB, but not for Cbl and Ctx, where the signal was negligible. Data are expressed as fold difference compared to SN (mean ± SEM, n = 3 mice, one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction (**p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001) (detailed statistics in Online Resource). c Immunoblots comparing expression levels between control and MI2 mouse lines. Expression of 1–120 hαSyn (αS(1-120)) in MI2 mice is much lower than that of endogenous full-length αSyn (fl) in WT C57Bl/6J in the OB. Interestingly some truncated αSyn with a similar size to the transgenic 1–120 hαSyn can be seen in protein extracts of SN and Str of WT C57Bl/6J mice. d Immunohistochemistry of brain sections of 1.5 month-old MI2 mice detected with the Syn1 antibody shows 1–120 hαSyn protein in neuronal cell bodies and processes in SNpc and ventral tegmental area (VTA) and in neuropil in striatum (see also Supplementary Fig. S1a, Online Resource 1). In C57Bl/6J mice, endogenous αSyn, is also found in SN pars reticulata (SNpr) and Ctx besides SNpc, VTA and Str. The specificity of Syn1 antibody for αSyn was confirmed by the absence of staining in C57Bl/6S mice that lack endogenous αSyn