Figure 6
The effect of BV on mitochondrial dysfunction in symptomatic mutant hSOD1G93Amice. A representative of Western blotting analysis of the brainstem and lumbar spinal cord of BV- or saline-treated hSOD1G93A mice (n = 3) using anti-active caspase-3 antibodies (A). The image is representative of three independent experiments. The optical density was measured for each band, and values for Iba 1 were compared with tubulin after correcting for the total protein content. The Results of the densitometric quantifications are the means ± SEM of triplicate samples. The data were analyzed using a t-test. *p < 0.01 versus the corresponding saline-treated group. The expression level of active caspase-3 protein in the lumbar spinal cord was dramatically reduced by treatment with BV in symptomatic hSOD1G93A transgenic mice. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of mitochondria in the lumbar spinal cord of saline- or BV-treated symptomatic hSOD1G93A mice (B-E). In symptomatic hSOD1G93A mice, mitochondria displayed vacuolation (arrow, B) and broken cristae (arrow, D). However, BV treatment prohibited collapse of the mitochondrial structure and loss of cristae in familial symptomatic hSOD1G93A mice (C, E). BV: bee venom, BS: brainstem, SP: spinal cord