Abstract
Recent gene expression studies on mouse models for retinal degeneration identified deregulation of Pituitary tumor transforming gene 1 (Pttg1) as a potential susceptibility factor involved in photoreceptor cell death. Pttg1 is a transcription regulatory protein involved in sister chromatid segregation, and Pttg1 −/− mice exhibit testicular and splenic hypoplasia, thymic hyperplasia, aberrant cell cycle progression, chromosome instability, and impaired glucose homeostasis leading to diabetes, particularly in older males. Due to Pttg1 deregulation in dystrophic retinas, we characterized Pttg1 −/− retinas using Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and electroretinography (ERG). Seven month old Pttg1 −/− mice were also examined for a diabetic retinopathy phenotype using Fluorescein Angiography (FA) to test for neovascularization. Our data reveal that up to 9 months of age, Pttg1 −/− retinas have a healthy morphology and normal photoreceptor function. This study lays the groundwork for further investigation into the relevance of Pttg1 in retinal dystrophy.
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Acknowledgments
Cheryl M. Craft, Ph.D. is the Mary D. Allen Chair in Vision Research, Doheny Eye Institute and a Research to Prevent Blindness Senior Scientific Investigator. Supported by NIH EY015851 (CMC), National Eye Institute Core Grant EY03040 (Doheny Eye Institute), Research to Prevent Blindness (DEI), the Foundation Fighting Blindness (DEI), Mary D. Allen Foundation (Richard Newton Lolley Memorial Scholarship (RMY), William Hansen Sandberg Memorial Foundation (RMY), Tony Gray Foundation, Dorie Miller, and Dr. Paul R. Burton. We sincerely appreciate the generous continued support for our vision research program by Mrs. Mary D. Allen. We also thank Dr. Shlomo Melmed for the Pttg1 −/− mice and Dr. Larry A. Donoso for the Arr1 D9F2 antibody. The authors acknowledge the expert technical support of Bruce Brown, Alexander Wang for his help with the experiments, Lawrence Rife for ERG analysis, Fernando Gallardo for FA, and Ernesto Barron for figures. Also, we thank Dr. Shun-Ping Huang, Dr. Freddi Zuniga and Leng-Ying Chen for their scientific contributions.
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Special Issue: In Honor of Dr. Dianna Johnson.
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Yetemian, R.M., Craft, C.M. Characterization of the Pituitary Tumor Transforming Gene 1 Knockout Mouse Retina. Neurochem Res 36, 636–644 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-010-0334-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-010-0334-9