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A Novel Light Damage Paradigm for Use in Retinal Regeneration Studies in Adult Zebrafish
Published on: October 24, 2013
bcl-2 overexpression reduces apoptotic photoreceptor cell death in three different retinal degenerations
J Chen1, J G Flannery, M M LaVail
1Department of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Abstract:
Apoptosis of photoreceptors occurs infrequently in adult retina but can be triggered in inherited and environmentally induced retinal degenerations. The protooncogene bcl-2 is known to be a potent regulator of cell survival in neurons. We created lines of transgenic mice overexpressing bcl-2 to test for its ability to increase photoreceptor survival. Bcl-2 increased photoreceptor survival in mice with retinal degeneration caused by a defective opsin or cGMP phosphodiesterase. Overexpression of Bcl-2 in normal photoreceptors also decreased the damaging effects of constant light exposure. Apoptosis was induced in normal photoreceptors by very high levels of bcl-2. We conclude that bcl-2 is an important regulator of photoreceptor cell death in retinal degenerations.
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