Figure 1

Effect of over-expression of human α-SYN on NF-κB activation in the mouse SN at two weeks. AAV2-SYN and AAV2-GFP (control) were injected into the right SN, and the tissue was processed for p65 and p50 staining at 2 weeks post-injection. A-D) The AAV2-SYN-injected SN displayed increased staining for p65 (red), mostly within microglia in close proximity to α-SYN-expressing neurons (green) while no induction of p65 was seen after AAV2-GFP. E) The staining for p65 (red) co-localized with the staining for CD68 (green), a marker for activated microglia, showing that NF-κB activation occurs in microglia. F) Scoring of immunostaining for p65 on a scale of 0 to 4. Compared with AAV2-GFP-injected tissues, AAV2-SYN treatment caused a significant increase in NF-κB p65. *p < 0.05 using Mann-Whitney U test (n = 6 per group). G-J) No significant difference was observed in NF-κB p50 immunoreactivity between AAV2-GFP and AAV2-SYN treated groups. Scale bars: panels A, B bar = 40 μm; panel E bar = 5 μm; panels G, H bar = 60 μm; panels C, D, I, J bar = 20 μm.