FIGURE 5.
Moderate retinal degeneration is observed by P180 in mice expressing unglycosylated RDS. A and B, rod photoreceptor function was analyzed using the mixed full-field scotopic ERG at P30 (A) and P180 (B). Under these conditions, the initial negative displacement A-wave is generated primarily by the large number of rod photoreceptors. Representative traces are shown in the left panels, with means ± S.E. shown in the right panels. For ERG, n = 14–16 mice/genotype, statistical analysis was done by one-way ANOVA. **, p < 0.01. C and D, plastic-embedded retinal sections were imaged in the central retina at P30 (C) and P180 (D). IS, inner segment; INL, inner nuclear layer; IPL, inner plexiform layer; ONH, optic nerve head. E, the thickness of the OS layer was measured in 5–10 eyes/genotype at P180. Plotted are means ± S.E. F and G, images were taken at increasing distances from the optic nerve head, and outer nuclear layer thickness (F) and outer nuclear layer nucleus counts (G) were measured in 3–5 eyes/genotype. Plotted are means ± S.E. Statistical analysis was done by two-way ANOVA. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001. H and I, TEM images at P180 from WT and rdsN/N. OSs from multiple different rdsN/N eyes are shown in the first, second, and third panels in I. Scale bars = C and D, 50 μm; H and I, 10 μm (left) and 500 nm (right).