Fig. 1

Altered mRNA expression levels of nucleolar proteins nucleophosmin (NPM1/B23), nucleoplasmin 3 (NPM3), nucleolin (NCL), and upstream binding transcription factor (UBTF) in the substantia nigra, frontal cortex area 8, and angular gyrus in middle-aged (MA) and PD as determined by TaqMan PCR assays using GUS-β for normalization. Reduced expression of NPM1 and UBTF mRNAs is found in the substantia nigra at stages 3–4, but reduced NPM1, NPM3, NCL, and UBTF expression levels are found at stages 5–6. Only NPM1 and NCL mRNAs are decreased in the frontal cortex at advanced stages of the disease. UBTF gene expression is transiently decreased at stages 3–4 in the angular gyrus. Student’s t test *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001