FIG. 3.

Extended distribution of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in Müller glia in retinas ipsilateral to blast exposure suggests increased damage. The GFAP localizes to the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) of retinas of sham and blast mice 24 h after injury (A, B, respectively). One week after blast exposure, the distribution of GFAP immunoreactivity remains in the RNFL of sham mice (C), but increases in Müller glia spanning the retina from the RNFL to the outer nuclear layer (ONL) in blast mice (D) in retinal cross sections. A two-dimensional side facing view of a reconstructed z-stack acquired repeatedly in 0.5 μm confocal sections along the z-axis of retinal whole mounts demonstrates GFAP reactivity limited to the RNFL of sham mice (E) and spanning throughout the retina in blast mice (F). A plot-profile displaying pixel intensity of the GFAP staining in E and F demonstrates a quantitative increase in intensity in the blast retina (H) when compared with sham (G). Figures I–L are depth coded images demonstrate GFAP+ extension into deeper retinal layers of blast mice (J, L) when compared with sham (I, K). Color scale bar corresponds to the z-axis depth of GFAP positive cells as the distance from the vitreous, coded from red at 0 μm and blue at 50 μm. Quantification (M) demonstrates a significant increase in total fluorescent area in the retinas from blast-injured mice when compared with sham-injured mice. Significance was determined via Student t test (**p = 0.0014). Data expressed as means ± SEM. n = 3 per condition. X25, original magnification; scale bar: 50 μm. RGC, retinal ganglion-cell layer; IPL, inner plexiform layer; INL, inner nuclear layer; OPL, outer plexiform layer; OS, photoreceptor outer segments.