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Figure 8 | Acta Neuropathologica Communications

Figure 8

From: PGC-1α activity in nigral dopamine neurons determines vulnerability to α-synuclein

Figure 8

PGC-1α expression protects against aSyn toxicity in the SNpc of male PGC1α-KO mice. PGC1α-KO mice were co-injected with two AAV2/6 vectors encoding for aSyn and PGC-1α (PGC1α + aSyn). The control group is injected with a non-coding vector instead of AAV-PGC-1α (NCV + aSyn). (a) Loss of TH-positive neurons in the SNpc at 6 months post-injection. PGC-1α overexpression induces significant protection against aSyn toxicity. Statistical analysis: Student’s t test; PGC1α + aSyn: n = 10; NCV + aSyn: n = 10; *p < 0.05. (b) Analysis according to gender shows that the protective effect of AAV-PGC-1α is specific to male mice. Statistical analysis: two-way ANOVA with Newman-Keuls post-hoc test; PGC1α + aSyn: n = 4 males and 6 females; NCV + aSyn: n = 5 males and 5 females; *p < 0.05. (c,d) Representative photomicrographs showing the loss of TH-positive neurons in the SNpc of NCV + aSyn mice (c), as compared to PGC1α + aSyn mice (d). The non-injected side (NInj) is shown for comparison. Scale bar: 500 μm. (e) Gender-specific analysis reveals significant protection of striatal TH fibers only in male mice PGC1α-KO mice injected with the AAV-PGC-1α vector. Statistical analysis as in (b); *p < 0.05 and #p = 0.058. (f) Stereological gender-specific analysis of the loss of Nissl-positive neurons in the SNpc. Statistical analysis as in (b): # p = 0.070, § p = 0.059.

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