Fig. 2

Myelin loss and widespread GCI pathology, but preserved number of oligodendrocytes in the cerebellar white matter of MSA-C patients. a Graphical overview illustrating regions of interest within the human cerebellum including the cerebellar white matter (cbw) and cerebellar cortex (cbx). b Sudan Black staining of the cerebellum of MSA-C patients shows a severe myelin deficit compared to controls; scale bar: 500 µm. c Quantification of myelin content measured by the optical density (OD) of Sudan Black staining in the subcortical white matter normalized to the molecular layer within the cbx; n = 5. d Co-staining of OLIG2 (brown) and α-syn (red) within the cbw; nuclei were counterstained using haematoxylin (blue); scale bar: 20 µm. e Note the preserved number of OLIG2⁺ cells in the cbw of MSA-C patients compared to controls (n = 5). 36% of OLIG2⁺ cells show α-syn accumulations of the cbw in MSA-C patients. Inserts show OLIG2⁺ oligodendrocytes. Data represent mean + standard deviation. Statistical analyses were performed using Mann–Whitney test; *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01