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. 2020 Mar 20;10:5115. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61970-8

Figure 1.

Figure 1

SFRP1 is expressed in the retina and required for photoreceptor fitness. (a–d) Frontal cryostat sections from 1 month-old wt animals hybridized (a,b), or immunostained (c,d) for SFRP1 and counterstained with DAPI. (d) The white arrows in (b) indicate the increased signal in the outermost region of the ONL. Note Sfrp1 accumulation in the OLM (arrows in c,d). (e–h) Semi-thin frontal sections from 2 months-old wt and Sfrp1−/− retinas stained with toluidine blue. Note the abnormal localization of cone nuclei in the mutant retina (red asterisks in h). (i,j) TEM analysis of the OS. Note that in the mutants, but not in wt, the stacks of membranes of the OS are disorganized (area enclosed in dotted line in (j). (k) ELISA analysis of SFRP1 levels in total protein extracts from 1 to 25 months-old retinas from wt mice. Note the significant decrease of SFRP1 content as the animals age; One-way ANOVA, with post hoc Bonferroni analysis; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01. (l) The graph shows the ONL thickness in 4 months-old wt and Sfrp1−/− retinas (measures were taken in cryostat frontal sections of the eye at the level of the optic disk). No significant differences were detected between wt and Sfrp1−/− retinas (Mann-Withney U test). Abbreviations: GCL: ganglion cell layer; INL: inner nuclear layer; on: optic nerve; ONL: outer nuclear layer.