The superior colliculus (SC) is a dome-shaped subcortical laminar structure in the mammalian midbrain, whose superficial layers receive visual information from the retina in a topological order. Despite the increasing number of studies investigating retinotopic projection in visual brain development and disorders, in vivo, high-resolution 3D mapping of topographic organization in the subcortica...

NF-kappaB is a transcription factor, which is activated by various stimuli. One of the well-known activators of NF-kappaB is oxidative stress, which is a cause of cell death in some tissue, or cell types. Optic nerve transection, axotomy, results in retinal cell death, because of oxidative stress, deprivation of neurotrophic factors, etc. Since it has been hypothesized that the retinal ganglion...

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are CNS neurons that output visual information from the retina to the brain, via the optic nerve. The optic nerve can be accessed within the orbit of the eye and completely transected (axotomized), cutting the axons of the entire RGC population. Optic nerve transection is a reproducible model of apoptotic neuronal cell death in the adult CNS (1-4). This model is pa...

Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons have been shown to stimulate the proliferation of astrocytes in the developing rodent optic nerve, but the signals that mediate this effect have not been identified. The following findings suggest that Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is one of the signals. (1) RGCs express both Shh mRNA and protein, whereas the optic nerve contains the protein but not the mRNA. (2) Astroc...

PURPOSE To investigate anterograde degenerative changes along the visual pathway in a rat model of optic nerve axotomy. METHODS Optic nerve transection was performed in adult Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were sacrificed at regular time intervals and tissues harvested. Immunoblotting followed by densitometric analysis was used to determine the phosphorylation profile of Akt in the dorsal later...

We examined qualitatively and quantitatively in adult rat retinas the temporal degeneration of the nerve fibre layer after intra-orbital optic nerve transection (IONT) or crush (IONC). Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons were identified by their heavy neurofilament subunit phosphorylated isoform (pNFH) expression. Optic nerve injury induces a progressive axonal degeneration which after IONT proce...

PURPOSE To determine if astrocyte processes label for actin and to quantify the orientation of astrocytic processes within the optic nerve head (ONH) in a rat glaucoma model. METHODS Chronic intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation was produced by episcleral hypertonic saline injection and tissues were collected after 5 weeks. For comparison, eyes with optic nerve transection were collected at 2 ...