| First Author | Palczewska G | Year | 2010 |
| Journal | Nat Med | Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 12 | Pages | 1444-9 |
| PubMed ID | 21076393 | Mgi Jnum | J:167525 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4868508 | Doi | 10.1038/nm.2260 |
| Citation | Palczewska G, et al. (2010) Noninvasive multiphoton fluorescence microscopy resolves retinol and retinal condensation products in mouse eyes. Nat Med 16(12):1444-9 |
| abstractText | Multiphoton excitation fluorescence microscopy (MPM) can image certain molecular processes in vivo. In the eye, fluorescent retinyl esters in subcellular structures called retinosomes mediate regeneration of the visual chromophore, 11-cis-retinal, by the visual cycle. But harmful fluorescent condensation products of retinoids also occur in the retina. We report that in wild-type mice, excitation with a wavelength of approximately 730 nm identified retinosomes in the retinal pigment epithelium, and excitation with a wavelength of approximately 910 nm revealed at least one additional retinal fluorophore. The latter fluorescence was absent in eyes of genetically modified mice lacking a functional visual cycle, but accentuated in eyes of older wild-type mice and mice with defective clearance of all-trans-retinal, an intermediate in the visual cycle. MPM, a noninvasive imaging modality that facilitates concurrent monitoring of retinosomes along with potentially harmful products in aging eyes, has the potential to detect early molecular changes due to age-related macular degeneration and other defects in retinoid metabolism. |
