| First Author | Smith SB | Year | 1992 |
| Journal | Exp Eye Res | Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 6 | Pages | 903-10 |
| PubMed ID | 1486944 | Mgi Jnum | J:3832 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:52340 | Doi | 10.1016/0014-4835(92)90017-m |
| Citation | Smith SB (1992) C57BL/6J-vit/vit mouse model of retinal degeneration: light microscopic analysis and evaluation of rhodopsin levels [see comments]. Exp Eye Res 55(6):903-10 |
| abstractText | The C57BL/6J-vit/vit mouse is a newly described model of retinal degeneration in which photoreceptor cells die over the course of a year and the retinal pigment epithelium is unevenly pigmented. The present study utilized histological and biochemical techniques to assess the progression of the retinal degeneration in the vit/vit mouse ages 2 weeks to 8 months. Results of systematic morphometric evaluation indicated that the inner nuclear and plexiform layers of the retina are similar in thickness to age-matched C57BL/6J controls, but the outer plexiform layer is significantly thinner by 4 months. Rows of photoreceptor cells are lost at a rate of about one per month beginning at 2 months of age. By 8 months, the photoreceptor cell nuclei have diminished to only two to three rows. Inner segments of the vit/vit retina are similar in length to controls. Outer segments separate from the RPE during the first 2 months, they seem to be elongated at 2-3 months, but become severely disrupted past 4 months. Beginning at about 5 months, numerous darkly-staining cells resembling photoreceptor cell nuclei are observed in the area of the inner and outer segments and the subretinal space. Spectrophotometric analysis of rhodopsin indicated similar levels in vit/vit and controls at 6 weeks but a 50% reduction by 22 weeks. At 46 weeks, the level of rhodopsin in the mutant animal was less than 0.1 nmol per retina. The loss of rhodopsin in the vit/vit retinas correlated strongly with the decreasing number of rows of photoreceptor cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
