Comparison of ocular pathologies in vitamin A-deficient mice and RPE65 gene knockout mice

RPE65 gene knockout (Rpe65⁻/⁻) mice showed abolished isomerohydrolase activity in the visual cycle and were considered a model for vitamin A deficiency in the retina. The purpose of this study was to compare the retinal phenotypes between vitamin A-deficient (VAD) mice and Rpe65⁻/⁻ mice under normal diet.

The VAD mice were fed with a vitamin A-deprived diet after birth. The age-matched control mice and Rpe65⁻/⁻ mice were maintained under normal diet. The structure of photoreceptor outer segment was compared using electron microscopy. Photoreceptor-specific gene expression was determined using real-time RT-PCR. The isomerohydrolase and lecithin-retinol acyltransferase (LRAT) activities were measured using an in vitro enzymatic activity assay. Endogenous retinoid profiles were analyzed by HPLC in mouse eyecup homogenates.

Compared to wild-type mice under normal diet, scanning and transmission electron microscopy showed that the outer segments of photoreceptors were disorganized in VAD mice and were not disorganized in Rpe65⁻/⁻ mice, although they were shortened in the latter. VAD mice showed more prominent downregulation of middle wavelength cone opsin, whereas Rpe65⁻/⁻ mice displayed more suppressed expression of short wavelength cone opsin. In vitro enzymatic activity assay and Western blot analysis showed that vitamin A deprivation downregulated LRAT expression and activity in the eyecup, but Rpe65⁻/⁻ mice showed unchanged LRAT expression and activity. The depressed LRAT activity in VAD mice was partially rescued by the intraperitoneal injection of retinoic acid.

VAD and Rpe65⁻/⁻ mice are different in cone photoreceptor degeneration, photoreceptor-specific gene regulation, isomerohydrolase activity, endogenous retinoid profile, and LRAT activity.