Fig. 5

Motor neuron degeneration in the spinal cord and neuromuscular junction (NMJ) neurodegeneration in the skeletal muscle after IM injection of α-syn strains in the BAC-α-syn-GFP mice. a Immunohistochemistry analysis of ChAT demonstrated distribution of motor neurons in the spinal cord after injection. Scale bar, 50 μm. b Numbers of motor neurons marked by ChAT in the ventral horn of the lumbar spinal cord post injection in different groups. One-way ANOVA, n = 3, *P = 0.0175 with Tukey’s multiple comparison tests, mean ± SD. c Morphological changes of motor endplates in Strain B and Strain C groups. AChRs were labeled with Alexa-594-α-BTX (red) in biceps femoris. The NMJs became fragmented in the Strain B and Strain C groups, and some islands of NMJ showed lack of AChRs (arrows) Scale bar, 10 μm. d Quantification of frequency of abnormalities in NMJs from biceps femoris. Mean ± SD from at least 100 NMJs from 3 mice