Fig. 7

Protective effects of melatonin on PS-NP-induced motor and coordination impairments in mice by mitigating dopaminergic neurons' mitophagy. 250 mg/kg/day PS-NPs and 10 mg/kg/day melatonin were applied during 28-day exposure. A Activity trajectory, B mobility time, C average speed, and D total distance in the open field test (OFT). E Latency time in the rotarod test, and F grip strength in the grip strength test. G-H Representative images of Nissl staining and quantitative analyses in SNc neurons. Detection and quantification of protein expression levels of I pAMPK/AMPK, J pULK1/ULK1, K PINK1, L Parkin, M LC3-II/LC3-I, and N p62 in mouse midbrain. O Representative image of triple IF for LC3 (green, labeling autophagosomes), TH (red, labeling dopaminergic neurons), VDAC (orange, labeling mitochondria) and their merged images with DAPI (blue, labeling cell nucleus) in the SNc. n = 10 per group for neurobehavioral tests, and n = 5 per group for other experiments. Results are presented as mean ± SD. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, compared to the indicative group. Note: Mel, melatonin