Fig. 5.

Knock down of PINCH expression preserves neuronal mitochondrial distribution. a Western blot analysis showing knock down of PINCH in neurons infected with PINCH shRNA viral particles. b Densitometric quantification of PINCH levels in neurons. c Mitochondrial morphology was observed in non-targeting shRNA and PINCH KD neurons with or without treatment of Tat or TNFα for 48 h using confocal microscopy. Tat- or TNFα-treated neurons were stained with dihydrorhodamine (DHR123) and changes in mitochondrial morphology were observed. Representative confocal images show preserved mitochondrial distribution in PINCH KD neurons exposed to Tat or TNFα. d Quantification of the distance of mitochondria from the nucleus. e and f Representative traces of OCR in non-target shRNA (e) and PINCH KD (f) neurons. g-i Quantification of basal (g), maximal (h), and ATP-coupled respiration (i) in non-targeting shRNA and PINCH KD neurons exposed to Tat or TNFα