Figure 1.

Characterization of Chm^Flox, IRBP-Cre+ model. (A) Illustration showing main features of the Chm^Flox allele and its conversion to the Chm^Null allele after Cre-recombination. (B) Neuroretina (N) and RPE (R) were isolated from the eyes of Chm^Null/WT, Chm^Flox, Chm^Flox, IRBP-Cre+ animals and analyzed by PCR using primers that could identify Chm^Null, Chm^Flox, Chm^WT alleles (top) and control primers (bottom). (C) Eyes were collected from Chm^WT, IRBP-Cre+ animals at P21, stained with Cre-specific primary antibody and Alexa-568 secondary antibody, and visualized by confocal microscopy. (D) Phase image corresponding to (C). (E) In vitro prenylation reaction was performed on the cytosolic fractions of the lysates isolated from neuroretina (NR) and the RPE of the Chm^WT, Chm^Flox, and Chm^Flox, IRBP-Cre+ animals. (F–I) Paraffin wax sections were prepared from the eyes of Chm^Flox animals at 6 months (F) and 12 months (H) and Chm^Flox, IRBP-Cre+ animals at 6 months (G) and 12 months (I), cut at 4-μm thickness, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin.