Figure 1

Efficient dopaminergic neuron transduction upon rAAV2/7 vector delivery in mouse SN. (A-B) Representative confocal images of fluorescent double immunostainings for α-synuclein (green) and TH (red) at (A) 5 days and at (B) 8 weeks after injection of rAAV2/7-α-synuclein WT at 8,0E + 11 GC/ml. (A) At 5 days post-injection, pictures reveal extensive co-localization (merge) in the transduced region. Bottom panels are magnifications of the overviews (upper panels). Scale bar upper panel = 200 μm and bottom panel = 50 μm. Confocal images of double immunostainings for α-synuclein (green) and NeuN or GFAP (red) show an almost exclusive neuronal transduction. Scale bar = 100 μm. (B) At 8 weeks after injection, a clear degeneration of the nigral dopaminergic neurons is observed upon rAAV2/7 vector-mediated α-synuclein overexpression. Dopaminergic neurons remain widely present in the contralateral side. (C-D) Fluorescent double stainings for GFP (green) and TH (red) at (C) 5 days and at (D) 8 weeks post-injection show that rAAV2/7-eGFP at 8,0E + 11 GC/ml does not induce any dopaminergic cell death over time. Inj: injected side; N-inj: non-injected side.