TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of basic fibroblast growth factor on the retinal degeneration of the mi(vit)/mi(vit) (vitiligo) mouse
T2 - A morphologic and electrophysiologic study
AU - Smith, S. B.
AU - Titelman, R.
AU - Hamasaki, D. I.
N1 - Funding Information:
mivit}mivit breeding pairs were provided by Dr R. L. Sidman, New Eng. Regional Primate Res. Ctr., Harvard Medical School, Southboro, MA, U.S.A. (funded by EY06859). We thank Ms Doris McCool for expert technical assistance, Dr Paul McNeil for helpful suggestions about this experiment and for the use of equipment and Mr Will Willner and Mr N. Bora for photographic assistance.
Funding Information:
This research was funded by Public Health Service research grant EY09682 (SBS); an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness Inc., New York to the Department of Opthalmology, Medical College of Georgia; a Dean’s Summer Research Fellowship, Medical College of Georgia (BT); and Core grant for vision research EY021180 (DIH) from the National Eye Institute. The original C57BL}6-
PY - 1996/11
Y1 - 1996/11
N2 - Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has been shown to rescue dying photoreceptor cells in the RCS rat, a model with a genetic defect of the RPE that impairs outer segment phagocytosis. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether intravitreal injection of bFGF would have a similar effect on photoreceptor cell death in the vitiligo (C57BL/6-mi(vit)/mi(vit)) mouse. This mutant mouse loses photoreceptor cells slowly over many months. Experimental evidence suggests that the primary cellular site of the defect is the RPE. In the present study, bFGF was prepared with and without heparin in PBS and injected intravitreally into vitiligo mice at ages 2, 4, 6, 8 and 13 weeks, surrounding the onset of photoreceptor cell death. Non-injected, PBS-injected and heparin/PBS injected mice served as controls. Scotopic ERG's were performed on one group of mice prior to killing. Mice were killed 4, 6 or 10 weeks following the injection and the eyes were processed for histology and analysed. The amplitude of the b-wave was significantly smaller in mice injected with bFGF/PBS than in PBS-injected and non-injected eyes regardless of the time of injection or duration following injection. Histological examination revealed that the number of rows of photoreceptor cells did not differ significantly between bFGF-injected, vehicle- or non-injected mice. Although slight improvement in the attachment of outer segments to RPE was observed in 4 week mutants injected with bFGF/heparin/PBS, a similar result was obtained in heparin/PBS injected mutants. In mice injected with bFGF without heparin, detachment was severe and gross disruption of neural retina was observed. There were significantly more macrophages and photoreceptor cells in the subretinal space in bFGF injected mice. It appears that at the dosages and times administered, bFGF does not improve the electrophysiological functioning of the retina nor retard the degeneration of the retina in the vitiligo mouse as it does in the RCS rat.
AB - Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has been shown to rescue dying photoreceptor cells in the RCS rat, a model with a genetic defect of the RPE that impairs outer segment phagocytosis. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether intravitreal injection of bFGF would have a similar effect on photoreceptor cell death in the vitiligo (C57BL/6-mi(vit)/mi(vit)) mouse. This mutant mouse loses photoreceptor cells slowly over many months. Experimental evidence suggests that the primary cellular site of the defect is the RPE. In the present study, bFGF was prepared with and without heparin in PBS and injected intravitreally into vitiligo mice at ages 2, 4, 6, 8 and 13 weeks, surrounding the onset of photoreceptor cell death. Non-injected, PBS-injected and heparin/PBS injected mice served as controls. Scotopic ERG's were performed on one group of mice prior to killing. Mice were killed 4, 6 or 10 weeks following the injection and the eyes were processed for histology and analysed. The amplitude of the b-wave was significantly smaller in mice injected with bFGF/PBS than in PBS-injected and non-injected eyes regardless of the time of injection or duration following injection. Histological examination revealed that the number of rows of photoreceptor cells did not differ significantly between bFGF-injected, vehicle- or non-injected mice. Although slight improvement in the attachment of outer segments to RPE was observed in 4 week mutants injected with bFGF/heparin/PBS, a similar result was obtained in heparin/PBS injected mutants. In mice injected with bFGF without heparin, detachment was severe and gross disruption of neural retina was observed. There were significantly more macrophages and photoreceptor cells in the subretinal space in bFGF injected mice. It appears that at the dosages and times administered, bFGF does not improve the electrophysiological functioning of the retina nor retard the degeneration of the retina in the vitiligo mouse as it does in the RCS rat.
KW - ERG
KW - bFGF
KW - mi(vit)/mi(vit)
KW - microphthalmia
KW - retinal degeneration
KW - vitiligo
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030296178&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0030296178&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1006/exer.1996.0147
DO - 10.1006/exer.1996.0147
M3 - Article
C2 - 8994360
AN - SCOPUS:0030296178
SN - 0014-4835
VL - 63
SP - 565
EP - 577
JO - Experimental eye research
JF - Experimental eye research
IS - 5
ER -