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Figure 5 | BMC Neuroscience

Figure 5

From: Non-invasive evaluation of nigrostriatal neuropathology in a proteasome inhibitor rodent model of Parkinson's disease

Figure 5

Histological assessment of nigrostriatal integrity 3 weeks post-lesion. Quantification by unbiased stereology revealed intranigral injection of lactacystin resulted in a marked decrease in (A) the number of TH+ cell bodies in the ipsilateral SNc, mirrored by a clear reduction in (B) NeuN+ cells. ***p < 0.001; contralateral vs. ipsilateral hemisphere, #p < 0.01; ipsilateral hemisphere of lactacystin vs. saline controls. (C, D) Representative photomicrographs of TH+ staining in saline and lactacystin-lesioned animals. Note the extensive loss of TH+ and NeuN+ cells in the ipsilateral SNc, but also in the VTA, SNr and extranigral nuclei in proximity to the injection tract of lactacystin-injected animals (arrows) (Magnification (C) × 1.5, scale bars 500 μm; (D) ×4, scale bars 200 μm). Concomitant with nigral cell body degeneration, a substantial dennervation of TH+ fibres was observed in the ipsilateral striatum of lactacystin-lesioned animals quantified by optical densitometry (E) and illustrated by a representative photomicrographs in (F) (magnification ×1.5, scale bar 500 μm; insets ×40, scale bar 20 μm). ***p < 0.001; contralateral vs. ipsilateral hemisphere, #p < 0.01; ipsilateral hemisphere of lactacystin vs. saline controls.

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