Figure 1.

Time course of NaIO₃-induced retinal degeneration. (A) H&E staining of murine retinal cross-sections at three (D3) and ten (D10) days following the NaIO₃ treatment showed a disruption of the RPE layer, clustering of the RPE cells (white arrows) and photoreceptor degeneration. The photoreceptor segments (PS) were reduced at three days and nearly completely missing ten days after the treatment (red arrows), but also, the thickness of the outer nuclear layer (ONL) decreased substantially (green arrows). NFL, nerve fibre layer; GCL, ganglion cell layer; IPL, inner plexiform layer; INL, inner nuclear layer; OPL, outer plexiform layer. Scale bar: 50 µm. (B) The number of photoreceptor nuclei per 60-µm retinal section was counted to quantify the progress of degeneration. A two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-tests showed reduced photoreceptor numbers in treated versus untreated mice (* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 and **** p < 0.0001).