Chunk #0 — Results — Unilateral 6-OHDA injections cause severe TH+ cell loss in the SNc and VTA, significant DA depletion in the striatum and in the Acb and spontaneous ipsilateral rotations
Immunolabeling of the striatum and the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) for the DA transporter (DAT) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) indicate a severe DA lesion caused by 6-OHDA unilateral injections performed in the medial forebrain bundle (Fig. 1). Counts of TH + cell bodies in the midbrain show a more severe DA cell loss in the SNc compared to the VTA (80.7 ± 7.5% decrease in SNc vs. 48.9 ± 9.2% decrease in VTA, compared to control side, Fig. 1a,b). LI-COR® slide scanner measurements indicate an average of 81.3% decrease of TH and 87.5% of DAT immunoreactivity in the dorsal striatum when compared to control side as well as a 80.1% reduction of TH and a 79.3% decrease of DAT immunoreactivity in the Acb, when compared to control side (Fig. 1c,d). Behavioral assessments show a significant preference for spontaneous rotations ipsilateral to the lesioned side in mice that were unilaterally injected with 6-OHDA (57.1 ± 6.4 spontaneous ipsilateral rotations/10 min vs. 1.1 ± 0. 8 contralateral rotations, P < 0.0001, Fig. 1e).
