FIGURE 4.

BXD32 mouse retinas have advanced glial hypertrophy and an increased presence of monocytes in the outer retina. WT and BXD32 retinal sections were immunolabeled for glial cells using IBA1 (red), GFAP (green), and GS (blue). Beginning at the earliest timepoint examined p63 (A), BXD32 retinas exhibit dramatic upregulation of GFAP and a larger number of monocytes, presumably microglia, both in the outer retina and the retina as a whole. By p105 (B), no decrease in GFAP is observed and monocyte numbers are even higher than at p63. At p168 (C), the outer retina is mostly degenerated and while monocyte numbers are lesser from p105, GFAP is still upregulated, indicating continued retinal stress. GS levels remained relatively similar amongst WT mice and BXD32 mice, with occasional variations with age. Nuclei stained with DAPI (white/grey). RPE, retinal pigment epithelium; ROS/IS, rod outer segments/inner segments; ONL, outer nuclear layer; OPL, outer plexiform layer; INL, inner nuclear layer; IPL, inner plexiform layer; GCL, ganglion cell layer. Scale bars = 20 μm.