Microtubule Imaging Reveals Cytoskeletal Deficit Predisposing the Retinal Ganglion Cell Axons to Atrophy in DBA/2J.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Glaucoma is characterized by progressive loss of the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons. Here we test an outstanding notion that microtubules (MTs) within RGC axons degrade before the loss of morphology ("MT hypothesis").

Methods

The integrity of axonal MTs was interrogated by intrinsic second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy. Using DBA/2J mice as a model of glaucoma and DBA/2J-Gpnmb+ as a nonglaucomatous control, the relationship between MT disruption and morphology was quantitatively examined as a function of age and sex in the fresh retinal wholemounts.

Results

The mean SHG density (i.e., the mean SHG intensity per thickness) was significantly lower in DBA/2J than in DBA/2J-Gpnmb+ and also depended on sex and age. The loss of SHG density, ind

SUBMITTER: Sharoukhov D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6218151 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature