Figure 3. VEGF upregulation is associated with intraretinal NV in Vldlr^–/– mice.

(A) Most VLDLR expression in laser-captured retinal tissue from P14 C57BL6/J mice occurred in the ONL and photoreceptor segments (POS), with lower expression in the RPE and other retinal tissues (triplicate data). (B) In Vldlr^–/– retinas, significant upregulation of VEGF occurred within the RPE (P < 0.0001) and photoreceptors (P < 0.05) at P14 (triplicate data). (C) Blocking VEGF₁₆₅ activity with intravitreal Macugen injection at P12 significantly reduced the number of intraretinal NV sprouts and the area of subretinal NV at P20 in Vldlr^–/– retinas. n = 10–12 retinas per group. Veh, vehicle. (D) Combination angiostatic therapy reduced abnormal retinal NV to an even greater extent. n = 10–12 retinas per group. (E) Whole retina images of vessels, focused within the subretinal space, showed a sharp reduction in intraretinal NV after treatment with Macugen and combination angiostatics. Scale bars: 250 μm. Error bars denote SEM.