FIGURE 2.
shRNA-mediated knockdown of Pink1 results in greater loss of dopamine neurons upon MPTP treatment. A, adenoviruses (2 μl, 1 × 107 particles/μl) expressing Pink1 shRNA or control injected directly into the striatum (ipsilateral side) of the animals. A week after viral injection, the brains were collected, fixed, and sectioned. The brain sections were processed for ISH to examine Pink1 transcript in striatum and SNc area. B and C, percentage of ISH signal intensity in the striatum (B) and SNc (C). **, p < 0.01 versus contralateral site. D, adenovirus-injected mice challenged with MPTP as described under “Experimental Procedures.” Brains were collected and sectioned into 14-μm slices for TH immunostaining. Representative images of TH-immunoreactive neurons of the ipsilateral side of the animals, 2 weeks after treatment with MPTP or saline, are shown. Scale bar, 250 μm. E and F, quantifications of TH-immunoreactive neurons from the ipsilateral or the contralateral region of SNc area (E) or cresyl violet-stained neurons (F). All values are means ± S.E. (error bars; n = 3–5). *, p < 0.05 compared with control virus-injected (ipsilateral) side of MPTP-treated animals.