Undersized dendritic arborizations in retinal ganglion cells of the rd1 mutant mouse: a paradigm of early onset photoreceptor degeneration.

ABSTRACT: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a family of inherited diseases causing progressive photoreceptor death. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) form the biological substrate for various therapeutic approaches designed to restore vision in RP individuals. Assessment of survival and preservation of RGCs in animal paradigms mimicking the human disease is of key importance for appropriate implementation of vision repair strategies. Here we studied the survival of RGCs in the rd1 mutant mouse, a known model of early onset, autosomic recessive RP, at various stages of photoreceptor degeneration. Furthermore, we analyzed the morphology of various types of RGCs using the newly generated transgenic mouse rd1/Thy1-GFP, in which the rd1 mutation is associated with green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression in a s

SUBMITTER: Damiani D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4112223 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature