Figure 2.

Ganglion Cell Loss and Gliosis in Retinas of DBA/2J Mice during the Progression of Glaucoma

(A) Immunohistochemical staining for BRN3A (red) and GFAP (green) in retinas from mice aged 2, 8, and 15 months; the nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue) for contrast. Abbreviations: ONL, outer nuclear layer; INL, inner nuclear layer; GCL, ganglion cell layer; OPL, outer plexiform layer; IPL, inner plexiform layer. The scale bar represents 20 μm. (B) The overall number of RGCs was estimated in DBA/2J mice of different ages by counting BRN3A-positive cells in the GCL after reconstructing retinal sections, as described in the Materials and Methods section. The histogram shows the number of RGCs as the mean ± SEM; the number of mice evaluated by age group in months (m) is shown in brackets (n) below each bar. (C) The intensity of the GFAP labeling was estimated with ImageJ in whole retinas from mice in the three age groups: 2 months (healthy), 8 to 10 months (with well-established glaucoma), and 12 to 15 months (with advanced glaucoma). The histogram illustrates the data for each age group; the number below each bar corresponds to the number of independent retinal sections evaluated per group (n). The p values in (B) and (C) were calculated with respect to data collected in 2-month-old DBA/2J mice; only the values close to significance or significant are shown.