Figure 2. Early morphological alterations and intracellular lipid accumulation in RPEΔAbca1;Abcg1 mice.
(A) Fundus imaging of 2-months-old Ctr and RPEΔAbca1;Abcg1 mice showing altered pigmentation pattern in mutant mice. Corresponding retinal morphology analyzed by light (B) and electron (C) microscopy revealed alterations of the RPE in RPEΔAbca1;Abcg1 mice. Yellow lines in (B) indicate RPE borders. Yellow arrowheads in (C) indicate lipid droplets. OS: outer segments; N: nucleus. (D) Retinal sections were stained with ORO (red, dye for neutral lipids); nuclei were counterstained with hematoxylin (blue). RPE flat mounts were stained with LipidTOX (red, dye for neutral lipids) and anti-CRE (green) (E) or anti-CRE (red) and phalloidin (green, staining actin filaments) (F). Nuclei were counterstained with Hoechst. White arrowheads indicate CRE-positive cells showing lipid accumulation in mutant mice. Representative pictures of N ≥ 3 animals per group. Abbreviations as in Figure 1.