Activation of Caspase-3 During Photoreceptor Degeneration in rd Mouse Retina.

Kim, Dong Hwan; Kim, Jeong A; Joo, Choun Ki

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2001;42(2):365-372.
Published online February 1, 2001.

Activation of Caspase-3 During Photoreceptor Degeneration in rd Mouse Retina.

Dong Hwan Kim, Jeong A Kim, Choun Ki Joo

¹Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea.
²Visual Science, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea.

rd 마우스의 망막퇴화시 광수용세포에서의 Caspase - 3 활성화

김동환(Dong Hwan Kim),김정아(Jeong A Kim),주천기(Choun Ki Joo)

Abstract

Retinal degeneration caused by a hereditary defect in the genome is reported in a few animals and it leads to blindness. rd mouse is one of the well studied animal models for retinal degeneration. The retinal degeneration of rd mouse is caused by a mutation on cGMP-phosphodiesterase(PDE). Caspase activation has been implicated for apoptosis. In this study, we examined the activation of caspase-3 during photoreceptor degeneration in rdmouse. Photoreceptor degeneration of rd mouse occured at PD 9 and disappeared at PD 21.In addition, we observed the active form of caspase-3 in the retinal degeneration of rd mouse. In conclusion, the cell death pattern of photoreceptor degeneration in rd mouse seemed to be an apoptosis rather than necrosis.

Key Words: Apoptosis;Caspase-3;cGMP-phosphodiesterase(PDE);rdmouse(FVB/N);Retinal degeneration