Figure 1.

ELOVL2 expression is downregulated with age through methylation of its promoter and is correlated with age‐related increases in autofluorescence aggregates and decreased scotopic response. (a) Methylation of ELOVL2 promoter region measured using immunoprecipitation of methylated (MeDIP) followed by qPCR. ELOVL2 promoter is increasingly methylated with age. (b) Time course of retinal ELOVL2 protein expression by Western blot. ELOVL2 protein is expression decreases with age. ns, nonspecific signal produced by ELOVL2 antibodies (c) Images of mouse retina sections from young—3mo (top panels) and old—22mo (bottom panels) animals stained with RNAscope probes designed for Elovl2 and Arrestin 3, counterstained with DAPI. ONL, outer nuclear layer, INL, inner nuclear layer, RGC, retinal ganglion cells. Bar—100um. (d) Time course of representative fundus autofluorescence pictures of C57BL/6J mice. Arrows denote autofluorescent deposits. (e) Quantification of autofluorescent deposits in fundus images. N = 4. (f) Scotopic responses by ERG over mouse lifespan. For panels A, E, and F, N = 4, *p < .5, ** p < .01, 1‐way ANOVA. Error bars denote SD