Extended Data Fig. 9: Caffeic acid alleviates disease pathogenesis in SOD1G93A mice.
(A) Experimental scheme illustrating the CA administration and assessment of the efficacy. CA or vehicle (PBS with 10% ethanol) was administered to SOD1G93A mice from D60 to D120 of age (5 days per week). (B) Changes of body weight monitored weekly (n=24 for each SOD1G93A mice group; and n=20 for WT mice group). (C) Grip strength analysis. n=24 for each group. (D) The ratio of gastrocnemius muscle to body weight (mg/g) at the indicated time points. n=14 at 16 wks and n=10 at 20 wks for each group. (E) Neuromuscular junction visualized by α-bungarotoxin (α-BTX, green) and neurofilament H/synapsin (NF/Syn, red) in gastrocnemius muscle at 16 wks (Scale bar: 20 µm). (F) The ratio of innervated neuromuscular junction (NMJ). n=8 for each group. (G) Cresyl violet staining (Nissl staining) to visualize the pyramidal neuron (layer V) in motor cortex at 20 wks (Scale bar: 50 µm). (H) The number of pyramidal neurons and dysmorphic neurons in the layer V of motor cortex (n=10 for each group). (WT, wild-type mice; Ctrl, vehicle administered SOD1G93A mice; CA, caffeic acid (30 mg/kg) administered SOD1G93A mice; *,#, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01;***, P < 0.001 and ****, P < 0.0001., n.s.: not significant, two-tailed; unpaired student’s t-test; p-values are indicated in each graph). Error bars: mean ± SEM.
