The bacterial toxin CNF1 as a tool to induce retinal degeneration reminiscent of retinitis pigmentosa.

ABSTRACT: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) comprises a group of inherited pathologies characterized by progressive photoreceptor degeneration. In rodent models of RP, expression of defective genes and retinal degeneration usually manifest during the first weeks of postnatal life, making it difficult to distinguish consequences of primary genetic defects from abnormalities in retinal development. Moreover, mouse eyes are small and not always adequate to test pharmacological and surgical treatments. An inducible paradigm of retinal degeneration potentially extensible to large animals is therefore desirable. Starting from the serendipitous observation that intraocular injections of a Rho GTPase activator, the bacterial toxin Cytotoxic Necrotizing Factor 1 (CNF1), lead to retinal degeneration, we implemented a

SUBMITTER: Guadagni V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5075935 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature