Fig. 10

Exogenous delivery of miR-124 attenuates the activation of microglia in the SNpc of MPTP-treated mice in vivo. The mice were treated with stereotactic intraventricular treatment of miR-124 agomir for five consecutive days. Next, the mice received one intraperitoneal injection of MPTP-HCl per day for 5 days, whereas the control mice received saline injections. The agomir treatment was performed 2 days prior to the MPTP injection. Then, the mice were decapitated, and the midbrain was obtained 7 days after the last MPTP injection. Immunostaining (a) and stereological counts (b) of Iba1⁺ cells in the SNpc are shown. The scale bar represents 100 μm. A confocal image of MEKK3 and Iba1 is shown (c), and a graphical representation of MEKK3 (d) and Iba1 (e) intensity in the SNpc is presented. Green: anti-MEKK3; red: anti-Iba1; blue: DAPI. The scale bar represents 100 μm. f–h Western blot analysis determined the p-p65 protein expression, and RT-qPCR confirmed the expression levels of IL-6 (f), TNF-α (g), and IL-10 (h) from the midbrain. The fold change was normalised by GAPDH levels. Data are normalised to saline controls and presented as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. The fold change is statistically significant. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01