Fig. 3

Widespread overexpression of hα-syn induces selective dopaminergic neuronal loss in substantia nigra 3-months post-AAV delivery. (A-D) Stereological quantification of NeuN⁺ cells in the (A) striatum, (B) motor cortex, (C) hippocampus, and (D) SN. (E) Representative bright-field microscopy images of coronal brain slices illustrating TH⁺ neurons in the midbrain. Tissue was counterstained with Nissl stain (scale bar = 200 μm). (F-G) Stereological quantification of (F) TH⁺ dopaminergic neurons and (G) Nissl⁺ cells) in the SN. (H) Stereological quantification of TH⁺ dopaminergic neurons in the VTA. (I) Representative images of coronal brain slices illustrating the TH staining in the striatum (scale bar = 1 mm). (J) Quantification of TH staining optical density values in the striatum. The data are expressed as the means ± s.e.m. (n = 6–10 mice per experimental condition). One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test; * p ≤ 0.05, *** p ≤ 0.001. SN: substantia nigra; TH: tyrosine hydroxylase; VTA: ventral tegmental area