Figure 8: HSF-1 alleviates neuronal atrophy in the motor cortex and striatum of AR-97Q mice.

(a,f) Expression of transgenes in the motor cortex (a) and striatum (f) of the AR-97Q mice 3 weeks after injection. (b,g) Immunohistochemistry for Hsf-1/HSF-1, 1C2 and NeuN in the motor cortex and striatum of AR-97Q mice. The regions injected with lentiviral vector expressing hHSF-1 were compared with the contralateral side of the same mouse (13 weeks old). (c–e, h–j) Quantitative analyses of the frequency of 1C2-positive cells (c,h), relative expression level of Hsf-1/HSF-1 (d,i) and cell size of neuronal cells (e,j) confirmed the neuroprotection by the lentiviral delivery of HSF-1 into the motor cortex and striatum of AR-97Q mice. Unpaired t-test. More than 300 neurons from three brains were analysed in each group (c–e,h–j). Error bars indicate s.e.m. (c–e,h–j). Scale bars, 100 μm (a,f) and 50 μm (b,g).