Figure 3. Ptprb heterozygosity prevents ocular hypertension and RGC loss in Tek haploinsufficient mice.
(A) Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) was observed in Tek+/- haploinsufficient mice at 30 weeks of age when measured by rebound tonography. As in Figure 2, this phenotype was prevented in Tek+/-;PtprbNLS-LacZ/WT double heterozygous animals, confirming the importance of TEK activation in IOP homeostasis (n = 6 WT, 14 PtprbNLS-LacZ/WT, 12 Tek+/- and 14 Tek+/-;PtprbNLS-LacZ/WT mice). (B) BRN3B staining in retinal flat-mounts from a second group of mice revealed loss of retinal ganglion cells by 19 weeks in Tek+/- mice. Littermate Tek+/-;PtprbNLS-LacZ/WT animals were protected, correlating with the reduced IOP observed (n = 4 WT, 4 PtprbNLS-LacZ/WT, 3 Tek+/- and 4 Tek+/-;PtprbNLS-LacZ/WT mice). Horizontal lines indicate population means. *p<0.05, ***p<0.001 as determined by 1-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s correction.