Glaucoma is a complex disease affecting an estimated 70 million people worldwide, characterised by the progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells and accompanying visual field loss. The common site of damage to retinal ganglion cells is thought to be at the optic nerve head, however evidence from other optic neuropathies and neurodegenerative disorders suggests that dendritic structures...

Fish--in contrast to mammals--regenerate retinal ganglion cell axons when the optic nerve is severed. Optic nerve injury leads to reexpression of proteins, which typically are first expressed in newly differentiated retinal ganglion cells and axons. Here we identified two new proteins of fish retinal ganglion cells, reggie-1 and reggie-2, with monoclonal antibody M802 and molecular cloning tech...

Optic nerve transection results in the apoptotic cell death of the majority of retinal ganglion cells by 14 days. The neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) enhances survival of retinal ganglion cells. In addition, the small heat shock protein Hsp27, with its anti-apoptotic effects, may be important for neuron survival following axotomy or trophic factor withdrawal. We recently r...

Whole-mounted human fetal retinae of gestational ages 14-40 weeks have been studied. These preparations clearly show the distribution of retinal ganglion cells or their precursors across the retina, and the pattern of the retinal vessels and vessel primordia. The ganglion cell layer is present at 14 weeks of gestation and distribution of cells in this layer (ganglion cell precursors) is at firs...

Glaucoma is a result of increased intraocular pressure leading to damage to retinal ganglion cells and optic nerve axons. The aim of this study was to evaluate HIF-1 expression in optic nerve axons and retinal ganglion cells in 42 eyes enucleated because of complete glaucoma compared to eyes removed because of injury.The immunohistochemical reaction was done and specimens were examined under a ...

In Brn3b(-/-) mice, where 80% of retinal ganglion cells degenerate early in development, the remaining 20% include most or all ganglion cell types. Cells of the same type cover the retinal surface evenly but tile it incompletely, indicating that a regular mosaic and normal dendritic field size can be maintained in the absence of contact among homotypic cells. In Math5(-/-) mice, where only appr...

BACKGROUND Nitric oxide has been implicated in the process of retinal ganglion cell death in glaucoma. OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of nitric oxide in mediating retinal ganglion cell death in a culture system that models glial-neuronal interactions at the level of the optic nerve head. METHODS Dissociated retinal ganglion cells from neonatal rats were plated on monolayers of astroglia ...