Assessment of oxidative damage in the motor neuron micro-environment.

<p>Oxidative damage was assessed in the spinal cord of in <i>Sod1</i> mice by A) quantitatively assessing the autofluorescence of lipofuscin, and by western immunoblotting of B) nitrated protein (NT) and C) oxidative lipid degradation (MDA). The <i>Sod1</i>^+/+ mice at 20 mo, <i>Sod1</i>^−/− mice at 20 mo, and <i>Sod1</i>^+/+ mice at 30 mo are represented by white, black, and gray bars, respectively. D) Apoptosis was assessed in the motor neurons of <i>Sod1</i> mice by cleaved caspase-3 western immunoblotting. Densitometry revealed an increase in cleaved caspase-3 in the in <i>Sod1</i>^−/− mice at 20 mo compared to the <i>Sod1</i>^+/+ mice at 20 mo. *p<0.05, **p<0.01; n≥4 for all groups.