Journal: Redox Biology
Article Title: The C3–C3aR axis drives rotenone-induced cognitive damage via synaptic engulfment, dark microglia and PANoptosis
doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2026.104062
Figure Lengend Snippet: Inhibition of C3aR ameliorates rotenone-induced neurodegeneration, synaptic loss, α-synuclein phosphorylation and cognitive deficits in mice. C57BL/6 mice were treated with rotenone for 3 weeks to establish PD models, with 30 min of SB290157 (C3aR inhibitor, 1 mg/kg, i.p.) administration after each rotenone injection. (A) Concentrations of C3a in the hippocampus of Con and Rot mice, measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). n = 6. (B) Representative Western blot images and densitometric quantification of C3aR protein levels in the hippocampus and rotenone mice. n = 4. (C) The mRNA levels of C3aR in vehicle and rotenone mice. (D) Representative images of double-immunofluorescence staining with C3aR and Iba-1 or Neu-N antibodies and (E, F) the quantification of C3aR + Iba-1 + and C3aR + Neu-N + cells in vehicle and rotenone mice. n = 3. (G) The quantification of Neu-N + cell number and (H) optical density of PSD95 staining in rotenone mice with or without C3aR inhibitor treatment. (I) The representative images of Neu-N and PSD95 staining in rotenone mice with or without C3aR inhibitor treatment. n = 6. (J, K) Representative bands of Neu-N, PSD95 and ser129-phosphorylated α-synuclein and the quantification of blots in rotenone mice with or without C3aR inhibitor treatment. n = 4. (L) Representative images of ser129-phosphorylated α-synuclein and (M) the quantification of staining density in rotenone mice with or without C3aR inhibitor treatment. n = 3. (N–Q) Escape latency, traveled distance, first platform crossing latency and platform crossing number in rotenone mice with or without C3aR inhibitor treatment. n = 15; ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01 for comparison between Rot & Rot + C3aR inhibitor groups; Scale bar = 50 μm.
Article Snippet: The C3a ELISA kit was purchased from CUSABIO (CSB- E08511 m, Houston, TX, USA), and TUNEL assay kit was provided by KeyGEN (KGA7073-1, Nanjing, China.
Techniques: Inhibition, Phospho-proteomics, Injection, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Western Blot, Double Immunofluorescence Staining, Staining, Comparison