Figure 1.

NS knockout mice show exacerbated retinal age-related degenerative changes

Retinal function and structural damage in NS^−/− mice start early at 3 months of age. (A) Average trace of pSTR signal obtained from WT (blue) and NS^−/− mice (purple) obtained at different ages: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. (B) Slope analysis for the pSTR functional parameter. A significant difference in the slope of decline was only observed in pSTR, suggesting that this parameters is exacerbated in the NS^−/− mouse group starting from 3 months and continued to 1 year (n = 10 animals/group, at time point). (C–F) Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of retinal sections, indicating changes in GCL density in WT and NS^−/− mice at four different age points: (C) 1 month, (D) 3 months, (E) 6 months, and (F) 12 months. Scale bars, 50 μm. (G) Quantification (H&E) indicating no differences observed in GCL density in NS^−/− mice at 1 month of age (n = 4 animals, 3 sections/animal in each group). (H–J) Quantification (H&E) indicating significant differences in GCL density in NS^−/− mice at 3, 6, and 12 months of age compared with age-matched WT mice (n = 4 animals, 3 sections/animal in each group; p < 0.005, p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001).