Fig. 4: Upregulating Ndufa1 rescues Hcy-induced cognitive impairment in rats. | Cell Death & Disease

Fig. 4: Upregulating Ndufa1 rescues Hcy-induced cognitive impairment in rats.

From: Homocysteine interferes with Ndufa1 leading to mitochondrial dysfunction through repression of the NAD+/Sirt1 pathway in the brain: a possible link between hyperhomocysteinemia and neurodegeneration

Fig. 4

A The 24 2-month-old male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups and the workflow demonstrated the experimental processes. B The rats received bilateral hippocampal injections of AAV-virus in the hippocampal CA3 region. The virus expression (green fluorescence) in the hippocampus was observed by a fluorescence microscope. C, D The mRNA or protein levels of Ndufa1 were detected and quantified by RT-qPCR and western blotting. E MWM showed that HHcy rats had poor spatial and learning memory ability. F Escape latency to the hidden platform between days 1–6 (The platform is in the 4th quadrant.). G The swimming pathway was used to locate the platform on day 7. H Number of crossings in the 4th quadrant on day 7. I Time in the 4th quadrant on day 7. J Swimming speed of rats on day 7. K, L Typical dendrites of tertiary branch hippocampal pyramidal neurons with Golgi staining and quantitative examination of the overall density of dendritic spines and the density of thin-shaped and mushroom-shaped spines in the hippocampal CA1 region (n = 5 for each group, 2 neurons per rat). M, N Expression of GluN2A, GluN2B, GluN1, PSD95, and SYN1 was measured by western blotting (n = 6 for each group). O Relative mRNA level of Il-1β, Il-6, Tnfα, and Inos in the hippocampus of rats (n = 6 for each group). P, Q, S IBA1 staining in the CA1 region of the hippocampus and cortex from rats. Microglial activation was assessed based on the soma size and branch length of IBA1+ cells in the hippocampus and cortex from rats (n = 3 for each group, 5 cells from each rat). R, T Cleaved Caspase3 staining was used to label the CA1 region of the hippocampus and cortex in rats (n = 6 for each group). Data were presented as mean ± SEM. Unpaired t-test for D. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test for (F). One-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test for others (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001, ns no significance; n = 8 for each group).

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