PURPOSE To investigate serial changes in photoreceptor status and associated visual outcome in patients with persistent submacular fluid after successful scleral buckle surgery for macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. METHODS This was a prospective observational case series including 76 consecutive patients who underwent successful scleral buckle surgery for macula-off rhegmatogenous...

PURPOSE Loss of photoreceptor cells is associated with retinal vascular degeneration in retinitis pigmentosa, whereas the presence of photoreceptor cells is implicated in vascular degeneration in diabetic retinopathy. To investigate how both the absence and presence of photoreceptors could damage the retinal vasculature, we compared two mouse models of photoreceptor degeneration (opsin-/- and R...

PURPOSE Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) typically results from individual mutations in any one of >70 genes that cause rod photoreceptor cells to degenerate prematurely, eventually resulting in blindness. Gene therapies targeting individual RP genes have shown efficacy at clinical trial; however, these therapies require the surviving photoreceptor cells to be viable and functional, and may be economi...

PURPOSE The precise mechanisms involved in photoreceptor apoptosis are still unclear. In the present study, the role of ceramide, a sphingolipid precursor that induces apoptosis on cellular stress, was investigated in relation to the activation of cell death in photoreceptors. METHODS Rat retina neuronal cultures, with or without docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), were treated with the ceramide anal...

Developing photoreceptor-like cells in retinoblastoma tumour fleurettes were found to contain apical tight junctions, mitochondrial-filled inner segment regions with cilia, and basally located synaptic ribbons and vesicles. Synaptic contract appeared to be established with adjacent neuronal-like elements. We suggest that photoreceptor differentiation in retinoblastoma tumours follows a sequence...

METHODS. Mice were exposed to intense green light. Lightinduced activation of NFB and its nuclear localization were studied by immunohistochemistry. The NFB DNA–binding activity in the retinas after exposure to light was measured by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). Nuclear transactivation of NFB in the photoreceptor cells was determined by quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR. The amoun...

The paired type homeodomain gene, Rax, was previously identified as a key molecule in early eye formation in mice and humans. We report the expression patterns of two Rax family members from chicken, Rax and RaxL, and on the function of RaxL in photoreceptor development. Both Rax and RaxL are expressed in early retinal progenitor cells, with Rax being expressed at a significantly higher level t...

The expression and organization of the phototransduction signaling proteins into a specialized light-sensing organelle, the rhabdomere, is required for photoreceptor cells to detect light. We report the characterization of the mutant Pph13(hazy). Pph13 is a homeodomain transcription factor expressed only in photoreceptor cells. Pph13 expression correlates with the differentiation and not specif...

IMPORTANCE Demonstrating the utility of adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) to assess outer retinal structure in Best vitelliform macular dystrophy (BVMD). OBJECTIVE To characterize outer retinal structure in BVMD using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and AOSLO. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective, observational case series. Four symptomatic...

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a photoreceptor-degenerative disease caused by various mutations and is characterized by death of rod photoreceptor cell followed by gradual death of cone photoreceptors. The molecular mechanisms that lead to rod and cone death are not yet fully understood. Neuroinflammation contributes to the progression of many chronic neurodegenerative disorders. However, it rema...