Abstract
Purpose:
Sirtuins are a family of NAD-dependent deacetylase that are involved in a variety of cellular functions, including metabolism, DNA repair, apoptosis, neuronal survival, and inflammation. SIRT3 is one of the seven mammalian sirtuins, localized mainly in mitochondria and plays an important role in regulating cell metabolism. However, functions of SIRT3 in the retina are almost unknown. In this study, we analyzed the retinal phenotype of SIRT3 knockout (KO) mice.
Methods:
10-week-old male SIRT3 KO and the litter mate wild type (WT) mice backcrossed to C57BL/6 were used. The mRNA levels of mitochondria-related genes and antioxidant genes in the retina were analyzed by real-time PCR. In the retinal sections, retinal thickness was measured, and the expressions of Rhodopsin, Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), Synaptophysin and Tom20 were analyzed immunohistochemically. We also analyzed visual function by ERG.
Results:
No significant differences in mRNA levels of mitochondria-related and antioxidant genes, retinal thickness, and immunostaining pattern of each molecule were observed in the retina of SIRT3 KO mice compared with WT mice. ERG also showed no significant differences both in the a-wave and b-wave.
Conclusions:
The retina of SIRT3 KO mice showed no significant phenotype at the stage of 10-week-old.
Keywords: 688 retina •
600 mitochondria •
592 metabolism