|
|
||||||||
Gene Desensitizing and Delaying Murine Rod Photoreceptors
1 From the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University, New York, New York; 2 Institut für Humangenetik, Medizinische Universität zu Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; 3 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Laboratories, Columbia University, New York, New York; and 4 Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
-subunit of rod cGMP phosphodiesterase (PDE
). METHODS. The ERG of W70A mice was compared with that of normal mice. Cone responses were separated from rod responses by light adaptation, whereas rod sensitivity was assessed by threshold stimulation with dim light. Spectral sensitivity curves of the ERG were obtained using a constant response criterion.
RESULTS. The ERG of the W70A mouse has a desensitized, delayed rod b-wave at threshold, and a prolonged rod b-wave at higher flash intensities. The a-wave is absent even at maximal stimulation. The cone ERG of the W70A mouse is indistinguishable from that of normal mice. The spectral sensitivity of the W70A mouse is maximal in the UV spectrum, in contrast to the normal mouse, which is most sensitive in the green region of the spectrum. This supports the interpretation of the results as normal cone and abnormal rod function in the W70A mouse.
CONCLUSIONS. The W70A mouse represents new model of stationary nyctalopia that can be recognized by its unusual ERG features.
| Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
-subunits from
the PDE core, so that it can hydrolyze cyclic guanosine monophosphate
(cGMP). The lowered cytoplasmic cGMP concentration closes cGMP-gated
cationic channels in the plasma membrane, causing the rod to
hyperpolarize, which is the adequate stimulus for second-order neurons
in the retina.
We have used targeted gene disruption to eliminate the expression of
the rod PDE
, which leads to photoreceptor degeneration in these
mice.1
The introduction of a transgene with a point
mutation (alanine substitutes for tryptophan at position 70 [W70A] in
the 87 amino acids comprising the PDE
molecule) created a distinct
phenotype.2
The retina of the W70A mouse does not
degenerate, inasmuch as electroretinograms (ERGs) of 13-month-old W70A
mice had the same appearance as those of young ones, and histology
revealed no abnormalities at 13 months of age.2
However,
the electrophysiology of rod photoreceptors is affected in the W70A
mouse. In single rod recordings, the response to light was desensitized
and delayed and the recovery of the response was prolonged. In previous
experiments, we found the W70A mouse desensitized but could not
identify a delay in the ERG corresponding to the delay in the single
rod responses.2
We have now identified what we consider to
be a delayed rod response in the ERG of the W70A mouse, bringing the
ERG into closer agreement with the single photoreceptor
electrophysiology. In this report, we characterize in vivo retinal
function of the W70A mouse and compare it with disorders found in
humans,3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
and in murine11
12
13
models.
| Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
and of the W70A mouse has been
described in detail elsewhere,1
2
as have been the methods
used for genotyping and protein analysis. ERGs were obtained from mice anesthetized with a mixture of ketamine (50 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg) administered intramuscularly. The pupils were dilated with 1% phenylepinephrine and 1% cyclopentolate. The mouse was placed on a heated stage calibrated to maintain the temperature of the body around 37°C. A 30-gauge-needle reference electrode was placed subcutaneously (SC) on the forehead and a similar ground electrode on the trunk. A saline-moistened cotton wick electrode contacted the cornea. The stimuli were obtained from a stroboscope that was removed from its housing and mounted in a metal box with a circular aperture, 3 cm in diameter and placed 9 cm from the center of the pupil. This produces a field of approximately 20°; it is assumed that most of the light stimulus is derived from scattered light. In support of this assumption, ERGs obtained from normal and W70A mice, using a full field dome surrounding the head of the mouse, yielded qualitatively similar responses.13 Neutral density and spectral filters could be placed in front of the aperture of the stroboscope to change the intensity and the wavelength of the flash. The following absorption filters were used: Kodak Wratten gelatin filters 36, 50, 48, 75, 74, 21, and 29 (Eastman Kodak, Rochester, NY) and Corning glass filters 5113 and 5970 (Corning Glass, Corning, NY). The transmission of each filter was measured with a spectrophotometer (Beckman Instruments, Palo Alto, CA), and the wavelength of peak transmission: 410, 458, 471, 488, 538, 593, 633, 360, and 380 nm, respectively, was used for plotting spectral sensitivity curves. The maximum flash intensity (in µW/cm2) at the cornea delivered through each spectral filter was measured with a digital photometer (J16; Tektronix Instruments, Beaverton, OR), after removing infrared radiation with an appropriate filter. The detector, 1 cm in diameter, was placed at the level of the cornea so that the stroboscope light covered the detecting area completely. The maximal light intensity of the white light (unfiltered) flash was 0.8 x 103 µW/cm2 at the level of the cornea. The duration of the flash was approximately 20 µsec, as stipulated by the manufacturer of the stroboscope (Grass Instruments, Quincy, MA).
ERG responses were detected with an oscilloscope and an evoked responsedetecting computer in parallel (CA 1000; Nicolet Instruments, Madison, WI), which averaged responses at a digitization rate of 1 MHz. The bandpass of the input amplifier was 1 to 250 Hz. The mice were dark-adapted overnight before testing. Stimulation was begun at 4.8 logarithmic units below maximum intensity of the stroboscope and responses were averaged to one flash every second. At high flash intensities, each flash was presented every 20 seconds, which was found long enough to exclude interference of one flash to the next. To determine the spectral sensitivity, we recorded responses to different intensities at each wavelength, from threshold to suprathreshold levels of stimulation. We determined the relative number of quanta per flash to produce a constant criterion response at each wavelength and plotted the reciprocal of these values on a logarithmic scale versus wavelength on a linear scale as a spectral sensitivity function.
We also examined the light-adapted ERG by exposing the eye to a beam focused on the pupil in Maxwellian view, which illuminated the entire eye of the mouse. The beam was obtained from a slit lamp, entering the eye slightly off the optical axis, to keep the mirror of the slit lamp from blocking the strobe light. The brightness of this field, as seen through the pupil of a human observer, was at maximum 107 candela (cd)/m2. The level of brightness of the adapting field was changed by altering the voltage across the bulb of the slitlamp.
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The ERG of the W70A mouse furthermore has an unusual waveform. With strong stimuli, there is virtually no a-wave and the b-wave is more prolonged than the b-wave of the normal mouse. With weaker stimuli a late b-wave-like response is detectable in the ERG of the W70A mouse, which was not appreciated previously.2 This late, insensitive response has an implicit time at threshold that is about three times longer than that of the normal mouse. This is the same order of magnitude at which single rod responses of the W70A mouse are delayed at threshold.2 The abnormal response can be explained by such delay combined with the insensitivity of rod photoreceptors in the W70A mouse. As flash intensity increases, the delayed rod response adds on to the cone response, producing a prolonged b-wave. The lack of an a-wave also is explainable by the insensitivity of W70A rods. A relatively strong rod response is required before an a-wave becomes detectable, which the rods of the W70A are incapable of producing at the flash intensities available. The biochemical reasons for the delay and desensitization of the rod photoresponse have already been discussed.2 In brief, the W70A mutation impairs PDE activation and deactivation, resulting in decreased sensitivity and slowed termination of the photoresponse.
The W70A mutation appears to leave the cones, including the UV ones,
unaffected, which is further support for the finding that rods and
cones use different forms of PDE
.16
17
Because the rods
of W70A mice are desensitized, the spectral sensitivity of this mouse
is maximal in the UV region of the spectrum. In contrast, dark-adapted
normal mice are most sensitive to the greenish part of the
spectrum,18
19
where rhodopsin absorbs maximally. Normal
mice have a relatively high sensitivity in the UV region of the
spectrum. Our results show that in this region, the b-wave implicit
time at threshold becomes shorter, as if mediated in part by cones. The
relatively high sensitivity of murine UV cones in the light-adapted
state has been reported previously, and the presence of UV cones has
been demonstrated,15
which is supported by our results.
Recently rod responses have been detected in the Nougaret form of
stationary nyctalopia in man.20
In this case there is a
point mutation in the
-subunit of transducin. Transducin binds
PDE
to catalyze the rod photoresponse. This mutation in transducin
also desensitizes rod photoreceptors by about two logarithmic units,
but there is no delay in the threshold rod ERG because rod a- and
b-waves of normal waveform are elicitable. This appears to be a gain of
function mutation, which leaves the rods constitutively light-adapted.
In the W70A mutant there is a loss of function mutation; the defect is
only seen in the homozygous state, it is therefore recessive.
To summarize, the findings in the ERG of the W70A mousedesensitized rods in young and old mice, normal functioning cones, absence of retinal degenerationare characteristic for congenital stationary nyctalopia. Thus, the W70A mouse exhibits a new form of stationary nyctalopia. The unique ERG signature of this mouse should make it easy to detect, if it were to occur in humans. It is also useful in providing another example of a genetic defect in a protein involved in rod phototransduction that does not lead to photoreceptor degeneration.
| Acknowledgements |
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
Submitted for publication October 9, 1998; revised June 8, 1999; accepted June 24, 1999.
Commercial relationships policy: N.
Corresponding author: Daniel J. Salchow, c/o Peter Gouras, Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University, 630 W. 168th Street, New York, NY 10032. E-mail: pg10{at}columbia.edu
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
R. J. Davis, J. Tosi, K. M. Janisch, J. M. Kasanuki, N.-K. Wang, J. Kong, I. Tsui, M. Cilluffo, M. L. Woodruff, G. L. Fain, et al. Functional Rescue of Degenerating Photoreceptors in Mice Homozygous for a Hypomorphic cGMP Phosphodiesterase 6 b Allele (Pde6bH620Q) Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., November 1, 2008; 49(11): 5067 - 5076. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
K. Norose, F. Aosai, A. Mizota, S. Yamamoto, H.-S. Mun, and A. Yano Deterioration of Visual Function as Examined by Electroretinograms in Toxoplasma gondii-Infected IFN-{gamma}-Knockout Mice Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., January 1, 2005; 46(1): 317 - 321. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Mizota and E. Adachi-Usami Effect of Body Temperature on Electroretinogram of Mice Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., December 1, 2002; 43(12): 3754 - 3757. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. Behn and M. J. Potter Sildenafil-Mediated Reduction in Retinal Function in Heterozygous Mice Lacking the {{gamma}}-Subunit of Phosphodiesterase Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., February 1, 2001; 42(2): 523 - 527. [Abstract] [Full Text] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |