Fig. 7
Intestinal α-syn triggers the pathology of Parkinson’s disease mediated by brain α-syn. a Exacerbated lifespan of flies with co-expression of α-syn in the brains and the intestine. Intestinal α-syn accelerates the death of flies with brain α-syn. Flies were cultured as described in Fig. 1a and the percentage of living male flies was calculated to monitor lifespan. Flies of esgTS > Syn, ddc > Syn (ddc-GAL4, UAS-Syn) and ddc + esgTS > Syn (esg-GAL4, UAS-GFP/ + ; ddc-GAL4, UAS-Syn/ tubulin-Gal80TS) were used. b Survival rates of flies challenged with rotenone. The percentage of living male flies was calculated to monitor survival in the presence of rotenone. c Intestinal α-syn exacerbates the age-dependent loss of DA neurons of flies with brain α-syn. The numbers of TH-positive DA neurons in five clusters of each genotype were analyzed in PPM1/2, PPM3, and PPL1 clusters of 28-day-old flies. d Intestinal α-syn induces progressive locomotor deficits of flies with brain α-syn. Mean ± SEM; P-values for survival curves were calculated using log-rank tests (using total fly numbers), and for category graphs using one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni multiple-comparison test. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ns, not significant