Figure 6

Upregulation of Rheb(S16H)-induced GDNF and BDNF contributes to protection of the nigrostriatal DA projection against pKr-2-induced neurotoxicity in vivo. (a) Representative coronal sections of the SN and striatum following TH immunostaining. Scale bars, 200 and 500 μm in the SN and striatum, respectively. The small panels show higher magnifications of the SN. Scale bar, 50 μm. Quantification of TH-positive neurons at 7 days after injection of pKr-2 and neutralizing antibodies against GDNF, BDNF, and Mix (BDNF+GDNF) in the presence of Rheb(S16H) and quantitative determination of striatal TH immunostaining. (b) TH-positive neurons in the counting area of the ipsilateral SN expressed as a percentage of those in the contralateral controls. CON, contralateral control side; EXP, ipsilateral injected side. *P<0.001 vs contralateral controls, ^##P<0.01 vs pKr-2 alone in the presence of Rheb(S16H), ^$P<0.01 vs pKr-2 and GDNF neutralizing antibody in the presence of Rheb(S16H) (one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc analysis; n=5, each experimental group). (c) Optical density of TH-positive fibers at 7 days after injection of pKr-2 and neutralizing antibodies against GDNF, BDNF and Mix in the presence of Rheb(S16H). ^**P<0.01 vs contralateral controls, ^##P<0.01 vs pKr-2 alone in the presence of Rheb(S16H) (one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc analysis; n=5, each experimental group). All values are expressed as the mean±s.e.m.