Fig. 6: Protein aggregates in A53T dopaminergic neurons. | npj Parkinson's Disease

Fig. 6: Protein aggregates in A53T dopaminergic neurons.

From: Reduced synaptic activity and dysregulated extracellular matrix pathways in midbrain neurons from Parkinson’s disease patients

Fig. 6

a Representative image showing expression of neuron-specific class III beta-tubulin/ 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (TUJ1/DAPI) in control dopaminergic neurons. Scale bar 10 µm. b MAP2/DAPI expression in control dopaminergic neurons. Similar representative images of A53T dopaminergic neurons expressing TUJI/DAPI (c) and MAP2/DAPI d. e–g Control dopaminergic neurons exhibit almost no protein aggregates, as can be seen in the aggresomes and merged image with synapsin::EGFP/DAPI on the right. h–j A53T dopaminergic neurons display high levels of protein aggregates that is observed in the aggresomes staining. k–p Immunostaining for postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD95 in green) and synapsin1 (syn1) reveals a drastic decrease in the ratio of synapsin1 to PSD95, indicating fewer synapses. q Quantification of protein aggregates shows a drastic increase in the number of neurons harboring protein aggregates in the A53T mutated neurons compared to controls. r Quantification of the ratio of syn1/PSD95 shows a drastic and significant decrease in A53T dopaminergic neurons compared to controls. s–u α-Synuclein staining and aggresomes reveal co-localization of some of the protein aggregated with α-synuclein. Error bars represent standard deviations in this figure.

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