Figure 1.

The SNCG Promoter Drives Higher-Level hCatCh-GFP Expression than the CMV Promoter in Mouse RGCs

(A) Fundus image of representative rd1 mouse retinae injected with 5 × 10⁹ vg of either AAV2-CMV-hCatCh-GFP (left) or AAV2-SNCG-hCatCh-GFP (right). (B) Retinal flat mounts obtained from the same injection series showing CatCh-GFP fluorescence obtained under the CMV promoter (left) and the SNCG promoter (right). The scale bar represents 300 μm. (C) Quantification of Brn3a-positive, GFP-positive, and double-labeled cells in rd1 mouse retina injected with either AAV2-SNCG-hCatCh-GFP or AAV2-CMV-hCatCh-GFP. Confocal stack projections across the ganglion cell layer for cell counts over chosen fields in the central and peripheral regions of the retina. Regions were chosen in each quadrant and cell counts were averaged to obtain Brn3a-positive, GFP-positive, and co-labeled cells per square millimeter. Mean fluorescence values were measured over the same areas using the same number of z stacks. Error bars represent the SEM. (D) Representative confocal stack projection across the RGC layer of rd1 mouse retina transduced with SNCG-CatCh-GFP, co-labeled with Brn3a (red) and anti-GFP (green) antibodies. (E) Cross-sections obtained from one representative retinal flat mount in the SNCG-CatCh-GFP injected retinas co-labeled with Bnr3a (red) and anti-GFP (green) and nuclei were labeled with DAPI (blue). Scale bars in (D) and (E) represent 10 μm. **p < 0.01, statistically significant.