Control eyes from donors with no history of ocular disease were
obtained from the UK Transplant Support Service, Bristol, Moorfields
Eye Hospital, London, or St. Thomas’ Hospital, London. Eyes from RP
donors were obtained through the British RP Society’s Eye Donor
Scheme. In all cases, written informed consent was obtained before
enucleation. The postmortem interval (pmi) between death and freezing
of dissected retinas in liquid nitrogen or fixation of whole eyes in
4% paraformaldehyde was recorded where possible. Sectors of fixed
tissue were embedded, frozen in liquid nitrogen–cooled isopentane and
stored in liquid nitrogen until use. Sections (10-μm-thick) were cut
on a cryostat, thaw-mounted on gelatin-coated slides, and stored at−
70°C until used.
For control eyes, the donor details were as follows: CON1, male, age 53
years, pmi ∼34 hours; CON2, female, 76 years, pmi = 11 hours;
CON3, female, 57 years, pmi = 29 hours; CON4, female, 72 years,
pmi = 28 hours; and CON5, male, 79 years, pmi = 21.5 hours.
For RP eyes, the donor details were as follows: RP1, male, 60 years,
pmi = 7.5 hours, advanced sporadic RP; RP2, male, 84 years,
pmi = 15 hours, probable recessive RP (six brothers in family, of
whom two were affected); RP3, male, 51 years, pmi ∼10 hours,
probable X-linked RP (two brothers, of whom one was affected); and RP4,
male, 79 years, pmi not greater than 24 hours, simplex RP.