1 research outputs found
Etiology of the developing eye in myelencephalic blebs (my) mice
The etiology of the eye defects in
myelencephalic blebs (my) mutant mice has been
poorly understood for almost seventy years. Embryos
from 9 to 14 M days of gestation were subjected to
Alcian blue 8GX staining for acidic glycosaminoglycan
deposition in basement membrane structures of the
developing eye in my stock and control specimens. In
addition 12 day embryos were subjected to avidinbiotin-
peroxidase labelling for laminin. At 9 - 9 M days
of gestation more Alcian blue positive extracellular
matrix was found in the region between the optic
vesicle and the overlying putative lens ectoderm in the
my stock embryos. By 12 days, there was an irregular
and lesser amount of deposition of glycosaminoglycans
in the len's capsule and in the «inner lirniting
membrane~ of the presumptive neural retina;
however, the deposition of laminin appeared to be
greater in the inner lirniting membrane of the my eye.
By 14 days, the damage to the eye in the my embryos
can be quite extensive, and the deposition of
glycosaminoglycans was very meager in this situation. It appears that irregular deposition of
glycosaminoglycans in the extracellular matrix and
possible increase in the amount of laminin in basement
structures in my embryos indicate disruption
of the normal histochemistry involved in the
development of the eye. Altered histochemistry may
in turn indicate changes in permeability between cells
of the developing tissues which result in the blebbing