Postnatal development of cone opsin expression.

<p>The four colored blocks show the development of cone properties along the dorso-ventral axis of the retina from postnatal day P7 to adulthood. Each block contains a 3D diagram summarizing the progression of a property across the retina and over time, and the individual diagrams for each time point. For each time point, the cones were counted in three wildtype retinae double-immunolabeled for M and S opsin, data points give mean values and SEM. Top block (grey): Total cone density shows a decline with age, because of retinal areal growth. Second block (blue): Density of S opsin-expressing cones. At P7 nearly all cones express S opsin, during subsequent retinal maturation the number of S opsin-expressing cones drops dramatically to adult values. Third block (green): The density of M opsin-expressing cones is low at P7 and is highest in the central retina that leads maturation. During subsequent maturation, the number of M opsin-expressing cones increases to adult values. Bottom block (orange): Density of cones coexpressing M and S opsin, comprising practically all M opsin-expressing cones at P7 and a decreasing proportion of the cones at later stages. All vertical axes give cone densities (cones/mm²), eccentricities are given as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080910#pone-0080910-g005" target="_blank">Figure 5</a>.</p

Quantitative comparison of cone densities and opsin expression in adult wildtype and albino deer mice.

<p>The local densities of cones expressing M opsin, S opsin, or both, were determined along the dorso-ventral axis of the retina in three wildtype and three albino retinae, they are given as mean and SEM. The abscissa of each graph gives eccentricity as percentage of the distance between the optic nerve head (located at 0%) and the ventral (V) or dorsal (D) margin of the retina (located at 100%), respectively. Total cone density and the density of M opsin-expressing cones are similar in both genotypes and show a density decline from central to peripheral retina. In contrast, the density of S opsin-expressing cones is much higher in the albino than in the wildtype. This is because of the large proportion of albino cones that coexpress both opsins. ★★★, differences statistically significant at p<0,001 (two-way ANOVA & Bonferroni’s post-hoc test). </p

Maps of cone densities in adult pigmented and albino deer mice.

<p>The two columns each show three maps of the same retina, giving total cone density (<i>top</i>), S cone density (<i>middle</i>), and M cone density (<i>bottom</i>). Densities at the isodensity lines are cones/mm². The small circles in the center of the retinae indicate the optic nerve head. D, dorsal; V, ventral.</p

Photoreceptor differences between pigmented and albino deer mice.

<p>(<b>A</b>) <i>Top</i>: flat view of photoreceptor inner segments in wildtype and albino animals, showing the larger IS diameter and lower density of the albino photoreceptors, differential interference contrast images. <i>Bottom</i>: cones in the same fields, combined immunofluorescence labeling for M and S opsin. The scale bar applies to all images. (<b>B</b>) Quantification of the photoreceptor densities in wildtype and albino. Counts were made at several positions across the retina (wildtype: 11 positions in 1 retina; albino: 6 positions in 2 retinae of 2 individuals; data given as mean and SEM. ★★★, difference statistically significant at p<0,001 (t-test).</p

Vertical cryostat sections of FINDT3 and wildtype mouse retinae stained for β-galactosidase.

<p><b>Top row:</b> X-gal staining, blue dots indicate β-gal-positive cells. In adult FINDT3 mice (left) staining occurs in the ganglion cell layer (GCL) and inner nuclear layer (INL), but not in the outer nuclear layer (ONL). In FINDT3 mice at postnatal day 10 (p10, middle) staining mainly occurs in the GCL with only few labeled cells in the INL. There is no staining in the adult wildtype control (WT, right). <b>Bottom row:</b> Staining with the mouse monoclonal antibody against β-gal. As in the X-gal staining, adult FINDT3 mice show two bands of stained cells in the GCL and INL, respectively. At p10 staining mainly occurs in the GCL with few labeled cells in the INL. In all these immunolabeled sections, blood vessels are also stained by the anti-mouse secondary antibody (some arrowed); in the wildtype control, the only labeled structures are blood vessels. OPL, outer plexiform layer; IPL, inner plexiform layer. Images were acquired with a Zeiss Axiophot 2 microscope (top row) and a Zeiss Axioplan 2 microscope (bottom row). The scale bar applies to all images.</p

Double immunostaining of a vertical cryostat section of adult FINDT3 mouse retina for β-gal and rod bipolar cells.

<p>β-gal label (<b>a</b>) does not colocalize with the PKCα label of rod bipolar cells (<b>b</b>), as shown in the merge (<b>c</b>). The magenta signal among the rod bipolar cell somata in the upper INL represents blood vessel staining. Images were acquired with a Zeiss Axioplan 2 microscope.</p

Double immunostaining of a vertical cryostat section of adult FINDT3 mouse retina for β-gal and glycinergic amacrine cells.

<p>β-gal label (<b>a</b>) colocalizes with the glycine transporter-1 (GlyT1) label (<b>b</b>) in some somata in the INL (arrows point to examples), but many glycinergic amacrine cells show no β-gal signal, as evident in the merge (<b>c</b>). Images were acquired with an Olympus FluoView 1000 laser scanning microscope.</p

Double immunostaining of a vertical cryostat section of adult FINDT3 mouse retina for β-gal and AII amacrine cells.

<p>β-gal label (<b>a</b>) colocalizes with the Dab1 label (<b>b</b>) in most somata, but some AII cells show no β-gal signal, as evident in the merge (<b>c</b>). Two β-gal-negative AII somata are marked by arrows. Images were acquired with a Zeiss Axioplan 2 microscope.</p

Double immunostaining of a vertical cryostat section of adult FINDT3 mouse retina for β-gal and cholinergic amacrine cells.

<p>β-gal label (<b>a</b>) colocalizes with the ChAT label (<b>b</b>) in a few somata in the INL and GCL (arrows), but the majority of cholinergic amacrine cells show no β-gal signal, as evident in the merge (<b>c</b>). Images were acquired with a Zeiss Axioplan 2 microscope.</p