Figure 6.

Rapamycin administration partially reverses RPE degeneration. (A) Western blots showed decreased phosphorylated levels of p70s6K^Thr389 and S6^Ser235/236 in RPE-choroid complex of 5-month-old RPE-TSC1^-/- mice after rapamycin injection (R: RPE-TSC1^-/-). (B) Immunostaining for p-S6^Ser235/236 (green) and Cre (red) showed decreased p-S6^Ser235/236 expression after rapamycin administration. rapa, rapamycin; veh, vehicle; scale bar: 25 μm. (C) Immunofluorescence staining showed increased RPE65 (green) after injection of rapamycin in RPE-TSC1^-/- mice (right); scale bar: 25 μm. (D- E) Electroretinography revealed increased scotopic b-wave and a-wave responses in 5-month-old RPE-TSC1^-/- mice after rapamycin administration compared with vehicle-treated RPE-TSC1^-/- mice (n = 5, *P<0.05, mean ± standard deviation). (F) SD-OCT analysis revealed increased ONL thickness in 5-month-old RPE-TSC1^-/- mice after rapamycin administration compared with vehicle-treated RPE-TSC1^-/- mice (n = 5, *P<0.05, ** P<0.01, mean ± standard deviation).