Fig. 4

hNSC transplantation decreases brain intracellular soluble Aβ42 levels by regulating BACE1 in NSE/APPsw transgenic mice. a Photomicrographs of Aβ plaque (6E10) staining in hNSC-injected (NSC) and vehicle-injected (Veh) transgenic mice. Scale bar, 1 mm. b The number of Aβ plaques per unit area (left) and the percent area of the Aβ plaque load (right) between hNSC graft (NSC) and vehicle injection (Veh; n = 3 per group). c–l Representative images of Aβ42 immunostaining in the brains of vehicle-injected wild-type mice (WT-Veh; c), and of vehicle-injected (APP-Veh; d) and hNSC-injected (APP-NSC; e) transgenic mice. Aβ42 immunostaining of each group in the pyramidal cell layer of the hippocampal CA1 region (HIPP; f–h) and the posterior parietal cortex (CTX; i–k). The relative levels of Aβ42 immunostaining in vehicle-injected (Veh) and hNSC-injected (NSC) transgenic mice (n = 4 per group; l). Scale bar, 100 μm (e and h) and 50 μm (k). m Levels of detergent-soluble (Sol) Aβ40/42 and detergent-insoluble (Insol) Aβ40/42 in the brains of hNSC-injected (NSC) and vehicle-injected (Veh) transgenic mice using ELISA kits (n = 4 per group). n and o Relative levels of BACE1 (NSC, n = 6; Veh, n = 5; n) and APP CTF-β/CTF-α (NSC, n = 4; Veh, n = 3; o) using western blot analyses in brains of hNSC-injected (NSC) and vehicle-injected (Veh) transgenic mice. p APPsw-expressing SK-N-MC cells treated with hNSC-derived (NSC) and fibroblast-derived (Fib) CM (n = 3 per group, where n is the number of experiments). Western blot image analysis of Aβ in the culture media of these cells, and BACE1, APP CTF-β/CTF-α, and phosphorylated Akt and GSK3β in cells of both groups. The number of mice (n) in (b) and (l-o) is indicated. All data represent mean ± SEM. Error bars indicate ± SEM. *p < 0.05