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. 2019 Apr 18;4(8):e126747. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.126747

Figure 7. Disruption of inner blood-retina barrier is associated with displaced retinal pigment epithelium.

Figure 7

(A) In WT mice, both inner and outer blood-retina barrier (BRB) were intact, as revealed by claudin5 expression in the retinal blood vessels and the absence of plasmalemma vesicle-associated protein (PLVAP) labeling. (B) In rd10 mice, compromised BRB was evident by PLVAP labeling of the exposed choroid (arrowheads, magenta) and fenestrated retinal blood vessels (arrows). (C and D) Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells labeled by phalloidin Alexa Fluor 488 (arrowheads) surrounded fenestrated retinal blood vessel (arrows, PLVAP) in rd10 mice. (E) Transmitted light photograph of the isolated rd10 retina at P200 revealed displaced RPE cells attached to retinal capillaries (pigmented patches). (F–K) Capillaries associated with RPE had diminished expression of claudin5 (green) and high levels of PLVAP (magenta) and were leaky (albumin, blue, arrows). In contrast, structurally intact regions outside of displaced RPE expressed exclusively claudin5 and were not leaky (arrowheads). (J and K) A magnified region from E–I. (L) Distribution of fenestrated capillaries across retinal poles. Scale bars: 1 mm (A and B); 50 μm (C and D); 100 μm (E–K). Average ± SD (6 mice, each measurement). Two-tailed t test, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.