April 2009
Volume 50, Issue 13
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   April 2009
Morphological Changes of Cone Photoreceptors During Rod Degeneration in the S334ter Transgenic Rats Carrying the Rhodopsin Mutation S334ter
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • L. Luo
    Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida
  • R. Wen
    Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida
  • D. Huang
    Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida
  • G. Gaidosh
    Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida
  • Y. Li
    Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships  L. Luo, None; R. Wen, None; D. Huang, None; G. Gaidosh, None; Y. Li, None.
  • Footnotes
    Support  NIH grant R01 EY-018586, P30 EY014801, JEK grant 08KN-09, RPB, and Hope for Vision
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science April 2009, Vol.50, 4468. doi:
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation

      L. Luo, R. Wen, D. Huang, G. Gaidosh, Y. Li; Morphological Changes of Cone Photoreceptors During Rod Degeneration in the S334ter Transgenic Rats Carrying the Rhodopsin Mutation S334ter. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2009;50(13):4468.

      Download citation file:


      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

      ×
  • Supplements
Abstract

Purpose: : In the transgenic rats carrying the rhodopsin mutation S334ter, rod degeneration begins as early as postnatal day (PD) 8 and by PD 20, the degeneration is almost complete. The present work studies morphological changes of cone photoreceptor during rod degeneration in this animal model.

Methods: : Cone morphology was studied at PD 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 30, and 60 in homozygous S334ter-3 rats. At a given time point, animals were killed by CO2 overdose and perfused with 4% paraformaldehyde. Eyes were harvested and the anterior section, including the cornea, the iris, and the lens, removed. The resulted eye cups were then embedded in 5% agarose and vibratome sections (100 µm) were obtained. Tissue sections were stained with antibodies against blue opsin, which not only stains the blue cone outer segments (OS), but also the entire blue cone cells. Cone morphology was examined by confocal microscopy.

Results: : At PD 8, when the outer nuclear layer (ONL) had more than 10 rows of nuclei, cone cells had the normal elongated morphology and a "stand up" orientation. Starting at PD 10, the cell length of cones became shorter, characterized by the shortening of both the inner segments (IS) and the synaptic terminals. No significant changes occurred to the cell body where the nucleus resides. The OS becomes bent, away from the cell axis. By PD 12, the OS of many cones becomes horizontal, parallel to the subretinal space plane and 90° to the cell axis. As rod degeneration progresses and the ONL becomes thinner, the IS and the synaptic terminals become shorter, while the morphology of the cell body remains relatively unchanged. The cells retain their original orientation until PD 30 when they started to "lie down". By PD 60, most cones are oriented horizontally, taking a position parallel to the subretinal space plane.

Conclusions: : Cone cells undergo dramatic morphological changes during rod degeneration, likely due to the thinning of the ONL and collapse of the subretinal space suggesting the importance of the physical support of rods in normal cone morphology.

Keywords: photoreceptors • retinal degenerations: cell biology • retina 
×
×

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

Sign in or purchase a subscription to access this content. ×

You must be signed into an individual account to use this feature.

×