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Nerve growth factor delays retinal degeneration in C3H mice
1Institute of Neurobiology, CNR, Rome, Italy.
Background:
The aim of the present study was to investigate the biological role of nerve growth factor (NGF) on retinal degeneration in the C3H mouse strain. This strain is characterized by a single gene mutation (rd) which leads to photoreceptor degeneration resembling human retinitis pigmentosa.
Methods:
Neural retinas from 1- to 25 day-old C3H mice were dissected from outer ocular tissues, dissociated in cell suspension, stained with a vital dye and counted in a hemocytometer. For in vivo study, NGF was injected into the intraocular or retro-ocular area, and at the end of the treatment the mice were killed. The eyes were enucleated, fixed and cut by cryostat into 14-microns serial sections. The serial sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and the outer nuclear layer (ONL) was measured using a computerized image analysis system.
Results:
An intraocular injection of NGF, or repeated retro-ocular injections, induced a significant increase in ONL thickness compared to controls.
Conclusion:
Our data show that NGF inhibits retinal degeneration in C3H mice. The mechanism(s) underlying the protective action of NGF against retinal cell death remains to be established.