Figure 5.

NaIO₃ upregulates ferritin and disrupts retinal cell layers in mouse models. (A) Probing of retinal and brain lysates from NaIO₃ and control mice for ferritin showed significantly higher levels in retinal samples (lane 2 vs. 1) relative to controls. Brain samples from the same mice showed a similar level of ferritin (lane 4 vs. 3). (Tissue from 5 mice was pooled for this experiment). The membranes were re-probed for β-actin as a loading control. Full blots and their details are provided in Supplementary Figure S1. (B) Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining of mouse retina showed well-defined layers in control mice (panel 1). The boxed area is enlarged in panel 2. Mice administered NaIO₃ showed disruption of the RPE and photoreceptor cell layers (panel 3). Scale bar: 25 µm. The boxed area is enlarged in panel 4. Scale bar: 25 µm. Immunoreaction for ferritin showed increased expression in the RPE and photoreceptor cell layers of NaIO₃-treated mice relative to controls (panel 6 vs. 5, marked by *). Scale bar: 25 µm. A serial section treated with rabbit IgG and Alexa Fluor 546-conjugated secondary antibody (red) showed no reaction (Supplementary Figure S3). RPE: retinal pigment epithelium; PR: photoreceptors; ELM: external limiting membrane; ONL: outer nuclear layer; OPL: outer plexiform layer, INL: inner nuclear layer, IPL: inner plexiform layer, GCL: ganglion cell layer; NFL: nerve fiber layer.