Fig. 4

Double immunocytochemistry and analysis of the effects of FK506 on mitochondria morphology in neuronal cells. Non-tg and gp120 tg mice were treated with vehicle or FK506 for 4 weeks and vibratome sections double-immunostained with MAP2 (dendritic marker) and TOMM40 (mitochondrial marker) analyzed by digital florescent microscopy. Representative images are shown from the fronto-temporal cortex. a Double immunofluorescent microscopy of MAP 2 (green) and TOMM40 (red) was performed to determine size and morphology of mitochondria in neuronal cells. White arrowheads indicate TOMM40-positive reference mitochondria. The detailed images are higher magnification of the inset box. b Image analysis of mitochondrial marker TOMM40 (white arrows) indicated a statistically significant increase in mitochondrial size in vehicle-treated gp120 mice compared to vehicle-treated non-tg mice. FK506-treated gp120 mice had a statistically significant reduction in TOMM40 mitochondrial marker (white arrows) indicating a reduction in mitochondrial size compared to vehicle-treated gp120 mice. Scale bar = 10 μm; detailed scale bar = 1 μm. *p value <0.05 by one-way ANOVA and post hoc Dunnett’s compared to vehicle; N = 10; age = 12 months of age