Generation and characterization of conditional AIMP2 transgenic mice.
(a) Schematic of the TetP-AIMP2-FLAG transgenic construct.
(b) Representative western blot of AIMP2 in cortex (CTX) and ventral midbrain (VM) of three lines (630, 634, and 323) of transgenic mice (Tg) and age-matched littermate controls (Control).
(c) Quantification of AIMP2 protein levels in ventral midbrain and CTX of AIMP2 transgenic mice and littermate controls from three lines normalized to β-actin, n = 3.
(d) Representative western blot of AIMP2 distribution in brain subregions from control and AIMP2 transgenic (630 line) mice (OB, olfactory bulb; CTX, cortex; HIP, hippocampus; VM, ventral midbrain; STR, striatum; CB, cerebellum; PM, pons and medulla).
(e) Quantification of AIMP2 distribution in mouse brains normalized to β-actin, n = 3.
(f) AIMP2 immunostaining of brain sections from AIMP2 transgenic mice and littermate controls. Magnified images are shown in the bottom panel to visualize AIMP2 staining in cell populations, n = 3. OB, olfactory bulb; HIP, hippocampus; STR, striatum; SN, substantia nigra.
(g) Immunofluorescent images of AIMP2 (red) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH, green) from AIMP2 transgenic and control mice. High power view is shown in the bottom panel. Quantified data (c, e) are expressed as mean ± s.e.m., *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test. β-actin was used as an internal loading control (b, d). Full length blots are presented in .