DOI

Many retinal degenerative diseases result in vision impairment or permanent blindness due to photoreceptor loss or dysfunction. It has been observed that Pde6b rd1 mice (rd1), which carry a spontaneous nonsense mutation in the pde6b gene, have a strong phenotypic similarity to patients suffering from autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa. In this study, we present a novel mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa generated through pde6b gene knockout using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. We compare this Pde6b-KO mouse model to the rd1 mouse model to gain insights into the progression of retinal degeneration. The functional assessment of the mouse retina and the tracking of degeneration dynamics were performed using electrophysiological methods, while retinal morphology was analyzed through histology techniques. Interestingly, the Pde6b-KO mouse model demonstrated a higher amplitude of photoresponse than the rd1 model of the same age. At postnatal day 12, the thickness of the photoreceptor layer in both mouse models did not significantly differ from that of control animals; however, by day 15, a substantial reduction was observed. Notably, the decline in the number of photoreceptors in the rd1 model occurred at a significantly faster rate. These findings suggest that the C3H background may play a significant role in the early stages of retinal degeneration.

Original languageEnglish
Article number17180
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume24
Issue number24
DOIs
StatePublished - 6 Dec 2023

    Research areas

  • Animals, Disease Models, Animal, Electroretinography, Humans, Mice, Mice, Inbred C3H, Retina/pathology, Retinal Degeneration/pathology, Retinitis Pigmentosa/pathology, pde6b, electroretinography, Pde6b-KO, retinitis pigmentosa, β-subunit of phosphodiesterase

ID: 114632895