Astaxanthin Protects Primary Hippocampal Neurons against Noxious Effects of Aβ-Oligomers

Figure 2

ATX prevents mitochondrial H₂O₂ generation induced by AβOs. Hippocampal neurons (13–15 DIV) were transfected with HyperMito, 24 h before the experimental maneuvers. ((a)–(d)) show representative pseudocolor images of hippocampal neurons expressing the HyperMito protein, collected before (250 s, left images) or 1000 s after (1250 s, right images) the addition of vehicle ((a) and (d)) or of 500 nM AβOs ((b) and (c)). Higher fluorescence intensity levels are expressed by the red color in a pseudocolor scale, while lower intensity levels are expressed by blue color. Scale bar: 10 μm. (e) shows representative time courses of HyperMito fluorescence, recorded in neuronal soma after the addition of vehicle (black symbols) or 500 nM AβOs in the absence (blue symbols) or presence (green symbols) of 0.1 μM ATX preincubated for 1.5 h, which alone did not induce changes in HyperMito fluorescence (red symbols). Fluorescence changes (mean ± SE) are expressed as (), where corresponds to the basal fluorescence recorded in the soma before AβOs addition. The graph illustrates average values from 2 ROIs registered at the soma of neurons recorded in the visual field (). Values correspond to four different experiments performed in four cultures from four different animals; each condition was tested in duplicate. (f) shows the values of obtained at the end of the experiment (time 1250 s) to each condition and bars represent mean ± SE. Statistically significant differences among experimental conditions were evaluated by one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test ( compared to control; compared to indicated conditions).

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