Fig. 1Induction of dopaminergic neurons from wild-type (WT) and parkin knockout embryonic stem (PKO ES) cells by the adherent monolayer culture method. (A) Induction of neural cells from WT and PKO ES cells by the adherent monolayer method. Representative images were taken 0, 5, 10, and 15 days after differentiation. Immunocytochemistry shows MAP2-positive mature neural cells, and 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) was used for nuclear staining. (B) Expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) 15 days after differentiation. TH+ neurons were analyzed by immunocytochemistry with an anti-TH antibody 15 days after differentiation. The 10% to 12% of cells were identified as TH-positive cells. (C) Reverse-transcriptional polymerase chain reaction analysis of dopaminergic neuron markers, such as Nurr1, TH, Pitx3, aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC), and dopamine receptor 2 (D2R) at 15 days after differentiation. Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was used as an internal control. Data are expressed as mean±SEM (n=3 per group). Statistical analysis was performed by Student t test. No significant differences in dopaminergic neuron marker expression were observed between WT and PKO cells.
Fig. 2Cell viability analysis after treatment with 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) by MTT assay. MPP+ was treated at various concentrations (0, 100, 500, 750, 1,000, 1,250, and 1,500 µM) for 24 hours, at 15 days after differentiation. MTT assay was performed for viability of differentiated cells. Data are expressed as mean±SEM (n=6 per group). Statistical analysis was performed by two-way analysis of variance. No significant differences in the MPP+ susceptibility were observed between wild-type (WT) and parkin knockout (PKO) cells.
Fig. 3Activity of caspase 3 in 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) treated wild-type (WT) and parkin knockout (PKO) neuronal cells. (A) Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis of WT and PKO cells treated with 1 mM MPP+ for 24 hours with anti-Tuj1 and antiactivated caspase 3 antibodies. Double+ cells represent colabeling with Tuj1 and activated caspase 3. The right panel shows the percentage of double+ cells per Tuj1 positive cells. (B) Western blot analysis of caspase 3 activity in WT and PKO cells. Cells were harvested 24 hours after 1 mM MPP+ treatment and Western blot analysis was performed with an activated caspase 3 antibody. β-Actin was used as an internal control. (C) Immunocytochemistry of WT and PKO cells treated with 1 mM MPP+ for 24 hours with anti-Tuj1 (green) and activated caspase 3 (red) antibody (scale bar, 20 µm). While MPP+ treatment causes a significant increase in caspase 3 activity, no significant differences in caspase 3 activity are observed between WT and PKO neural cells. Data are expressed as the mean±SEM (n=3 per group). Statistical analysis was performed by Student t test. CTL, control without MPP+ treatment; DAPI, 4, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole.
Fig. 4Activity of caspase 3 in 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) treated wild-type (WT) and parkin knockout (PKO) dopaminergic neurons. (A) Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis of WT and PKO cells treated with 1 mM MPP+ for 24 hours with tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and activated caspase 3 antibodies. Double+ cells represent colabeling with TH and activated caspase 3 antibodies. Graphs show the percentage of double positive cells per TH-positive cells. (B) Immunocytochemistry of WT and PKO cells treated with 1 mM MPP+ for 24 hours with TH (red) and activated caspase 3 (green) antibodies (scale bar, 20 µm). No significant differences in caspase 3 activity were observed between WT and PKO dopaminergic neurons. Data are expressed as mean±SEM (n=3 per group). Statistical analysis was performed by Student t test. CTL, control without MPP+ treatment; DAPI, 4, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole.