Fig 2: Loss of SCS A-ß induces neuronal mtDNA depletion. (a) mtDNA copy number in SUCLA2- and nonTarget-shRNA-treated neurons. Nuclear DNA was used as the loading control. The expression levels of NDPK (b), DNA pol ? (c), Twinkle (d) and SSBP1 (e) in SUCLA2- and nonTarget-shRNA-treated neurons. The lower panels are representative immunoreactive bands. TOM40 was used as the loading control. The data were collected from 3 independent experiments.

Fig 3: Loss of SCS A-ß induces synaptic loss. (a and b) The co-staining of PSD95 (red) and vGlut1 (blue) Synapses were used to identify synapses. MAP2 (green) was used to determine the dendrites. SUCLA2-shRNA-treated neurons showed a significant decrease in their synaptic density. Data were collected from 27 neurons per group. Scale bar = 10 µm.

Fig 4: Loss of SCS A-ß disrupts neuronal mitochondrial dynamics. (a1) Dendritic mitochondrial length in SUCLA2- and nonTarget-shRNA-treated neurons. (a2) Analysis of the cumulative fraction of mitochondrial length. Data were collected from 400 mitochondria. (b1) Dendritic mitochondrial volume in SUCLA2- and nonTarget-shRNA-treated neurons. (b2) Analysis of the cumulative fraction of mitochondrial volume. Data were collected from 400 mitochondria. (c) Dendritic mitochondrial density in SUCLA2- and nonTarget-shRNA-treated neurons. Data were collected from 24 neurons per group. (d) are r?epresentative images of mitoDsred. Scale bar = 10 µm for upper panels, = 1 µm for enlarged mitocho?ndria.

Fig 5: Loss of SCS A-ß enhances neuronal mitochondrial superoxide production. SUCLA2 shRNA-challenged neurons had significantly increased levels of Mitosox Red intensity (a). (b) are the representative images of Mitosox Red (red) staining. The nuclear was visualized by the staining of DAPI (blue). The data were collected from 3 independent experiments. Scale bar = 20 µm.