0000000000042972
AUTHOR
Julia Biermann
Retrograde neurotrophic signaling in rat retinal ganglion cells is transmitted via the ERK5 but not the ERK1/2 pathway.
Purpose Neurotrophic deprivation is considered an important event in glaucomatous retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death. However, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway transmitting axonal neurotrophic signals in RGC has not been identified. We investigated the involvement of ERK5 and ERK1/2 in retrograde axonal neurotrophic signaling in rats. Methods Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Retinal immunostaining for ERK5 and MEK5 was performed. Levels of total and phosphorylated ERK5 and ERK1/2 were analyzed in retinal lysate by quantitative Western blotting. The effects of age, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) stimulation at RGC soma (intravitreal injection) or axon ending (…
Enrichment of Retinal Ganglion Cells in Rat Retinal Lysate by Excimer Laser Ablation of the Outer Retina
PURPOSE. Retinal ganglion cells (RGC) are a relatively small cell population in the retina. This leads to an unfavorable signal-tonoise ratio when analyzing RGC proteins in whole retina lysate. We present a novel technique to obtain RGC-enriched rat retinal lysate by removing the outer retinal layers with an excimer laser before lysation. METHODS. Outer retinal layers were ablated with an excimer laser on flat mounted retinas from adult albino rats. 4 0 6Diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride hydrate (DAPI) nuclear staining was used to assess the ablation efficacy (n ! 6). Western blot for layer specific markers (rhodopsin, parvalbumin, b-III-tubulin) was performed to quantify changes in …