Figure 4
Suppression of Aβ pathology by NIa expression in the brain of Tg-APP/PS1 mice. (A) RT-PCR showing the expression of NIa transcript in the brain of Tg-APP/PS1 mice infused with Lenti-NIa (Tg+NIa).The expression of NIa was analyzed on the parietal cortex of Tg-APP/PS1 mice and their control mice (Tg-CON). GAPDH is a control. (B) Western blots showing the expression of NIa protein in the brain of Tg-APP/PS1 mice infused with Lenti-NIa (Tg+NIa). The expression of NIa (molecular weight: 28 kD) in the prefrontal cortex was examined using anti-NIa. Tg-APP/PS1 mouse control (Tg-CON). α-tubulin was used as a loading control. (C-F) The amounts of Aβ (40) (C, E) and Aβ (42) (D, F) in Tris-buffer soluble (C, D) and formic acid-extractable (E, F) fractions in the brains of Tg-APP/PS1 mouse control (Tg-CON) and Tg-APP/PS1 mice infused with Lenti-NIa (Tg+NIa). (G, H) Photomicrographs showing anti-Aβ (Bam-10)-stained superior prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex and hippocampus, and piriform cortex of Tg-APP/PS1 mouse control (Tg-CON; G) and Tg-APP/PS1 mice infused with Lenti-NIa (Tg+NIa; H). (I, J) Quantification of the levels of plaques (mm2) in the prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, and piriform cortex of Tg-APP/PS1 mouse control (Tg-CON) and Tg-APP/PS1 mice infused with Lenti-NIa. Plaque levels presented were counted using computer-aid image analysis program (I) and the 6-grade plaque photographic reference panels (J). All data were from female mice. Scale bar: 500 µm. Data are presented as the means ± SEM. *denotes difference between the indicated groups at P < 0.05 (Student t-test).
