Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a family of inherited diseases causing progressive photoreceptor death. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) form the biological substrate for various therapeutic approaches designed to restore vision in RP individuals. Assessment of survival and preservation of RGCs in animal paradigms mimicking the human disease is of key importance for appropriate implementation of vision repair strategies. Here we studied the survival of RGCs in the rd1 mutant mouse, a known model of early onset, autosomic recessive RP, at various stages of photoreceptor degeneration. Furthermore, we analyzed the morphology of various types of RGCs using the newly generated transgenic mouse rd1/Thy1-GFP, in which the rd1 mutation is associated with green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression in a small population of different RGCs. We found excellent survival of cells at up to 1 year of age, a time at which the inner retina is known to have severely reorganized and partially degenerated. However, 50% of the cells analyzed within all RGC types exhibit an undersized dendritic tree, spanning about half of the normal area. Undersized cells are found both in adult and in very young (1-month-old) mice. This suggests that their aberrant phenotype is due to incomplete dendritic development, possibly as a consequence of altered visual input at the time of dendritic arbor refinement. These data show the importance of the timing of photoreceptor death in RGC dendritic development.
Pubmed ID: 22102216 RIS Download
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A contract research organization providing drug development and animal testing services. Under the name Covance Research Products Inc., based in Denver, Pennsylvania, the company also deals in the import, breeding and sale of laboratory animals. It breeds dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, non-human primates, and pigs, and runs the largest non-human primate laboratory in Germany. (Wikipedia)
View all literature mentionsNeurolucida is advanced scientific software for brain mapping, neuron reconstruction, anatomical mapping, and morphometry. Since its debut more than 20 years ago, Neurolucida has continued to evolve and has become the worldwide gold-standard for neuron reconstruction and 3D mapping. Neurolucida has the flexibility to handle data in many formats: using live images from digital or video cameras; stored image sets from confocal microscopes, electron microscopes, and scanning tomographic sources, or through the microscope oculars using the patented LucividTM. Neurolucida controls a motorized XYZ stage for integrated navigation through tissue sections, allowing for sophisticated analysis from many fields-of-view. Neurolucidas Serial Section Manager integrates unlimited sections into a single data file, maintaining each section in aligned 3D space for full quantitative analysis. Neurolucidas neuron tracing capabilities include 3D measurement and reconstruction of branching processes. Neurolucida also features sophisticated tools for mapping delineate and map anatomical regions for detailed morphometric analyses. Neurolucida uses advanced computer-controlled microscopy techniques to obtain accurate results and speed your work. Plug-in modules are available for confocal and MRI analysis, 3D solid modeling, and virtual slide creation. The user-friendly interface gives you rapid results, allowing you to acquire data and capture the full 3D extent of neurons and brain regions. You can reconstruct neurons or create 3D serial reconstructions directly from slides or acquired images, and Neurolucida offers full microscope control for brightfield, fluorescent, and confocal microscopes. Its added compatibility with 64-bit Microsoft Vista enables reconstructions with even larger images, image stacks, and virtual slides. Adding the Solid Modeling Module allows you to rotate and view your reconstructions in real time. Neurolucida is available in two separate versions Standard and Workstation. The Standard version enables control of microscope hardware, whereas the Workstation version is used for offline analysis away from the microscope. Neurolucida provides quantitative analysis with results presented in graphical or spreadsheet format exportable to Microsoft Excel. Overall, features include: - Tracing Neurons - Anatomical Mapping - Image Processing and Analysis Features - Editing - Morphometric Analysis - Hardware Integration - Cell Analysis - Visualization Features Sponsors: Neurolucida is supported by MBF Bioscience.
View all literature mentionsData analysis software for neurophysiology with a multitude of features, including: * Import of native data files created by many popular data acquisition systems * All standard histogram and raster analyses * Shift predictors in crosscorrelograms and color markers in perievent rasters * Joint PSTH, burst analysis and many more analyses of timestamped data * Spectral analysis of spike and continuous data * 3D data view and animation * Fully customizable WYSIWYG graphics * Custom analysis and batch mode processing with internal scripting language * Direct data link to Matlab and Excel * Statistical tests via direct link to R-project
View all literature mentionsSoftware tool for automated microscope acquisition, device control, and image analysis. Used for integrating dissimilar fluorescent microscope hardware and peripherals into a single custom workstation, while providing all the tools needed to perform analysis of acquired images. Offers user friendly application modules for analysis such as cell signaling, cell counting, and protein expression.
View all literature mentionsA national mouse monoclonal antibody generating resource for biochemical and immunohistochemical applications in mammalian brain. NeuroMabs are generated from mice immunized with synthetic and recombinant immunogens corresponding to components of the neuronal proteome as predicted from genomic and other large-scale cloning efforts. Comprehensive biochemical and immunohistochemical analyses of human, primate and non-primate mammalian brain are incorporated into the initial NeuroMab screening procedure. This yields a subset of mouse mAbs that are optimized for use in brain (i.e. NeuroMabs): for immunocytochemical-based imaging studies of protein localization in adult, developing and pathological brain samples, for biochemical analyses of subunit composition and post-translational modifications of native brain proteins, and for proteomic analyses of native brain protein networks. The NeuroMab facility was initially funded with a five-year U24 cooperative grant from NINDS and NIMH. The initial goal of the facility for this funding period is to generate a library of novel NeuroMabs against neuronal proteins, initially focusing on membrane proteins (receptors/channels/transporters), synaptic proteins, other neuronal signaling molecules, and proteins with established links to disease states. The scope of the facility was expanded with supplements from the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research to include neurodevelopmental targets, the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research to include epigenetics targets, and NIH Office of Rare Diseases Research to include rare disease targets. These NeuroMabs will then be produced on a large scale and made available to the neuroscience research community on an inexpensive basis as tissue culture supernatants or purified immunoglobulin by Antibodies Inc. The UC Davis/NIH NeuroMab Facility makes NeuroMabs available directly to end users and is unable to accommodate sales to distributors for third party distribution. Note, NeuroMab antibodies are now offered through antibodiesinc.
View all literature mentionsSoftware tool for data graphing and analysis by Systat Software, Inc.
View all literature mentionsThis monoclonal targets Ankyrin-G (Staining)
View all literature mentionsThis monoclonal targets Ankyrin-G (staining) scaffold protein
View all literature mentionsThis polyclonal targets Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)
View all literature mentionsThis unknown targets
View all literature mentionsThis unknown targets
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