Phototoxicities Caused by Continuous Light Exposure Were Not Induced in Retinal Ganglion Cells Transduced by an Optogenetic Gene
Open Access
- 23 June 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in International Journal of Molecular Sciences
- Vol. 22 (13), 6732
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22136732
Abstract
The death of photoreceptor cells is induced by continuous light exposure. However, it is unclear whether light damage was induced in retinal ganglion cells with photosensitivity by transduction of optogenetic genes. In this study, we evaluated the phototoxicities of continuous light exposure on retinal ganglion cells after transduction of the optogenetic gene mVChR1 using an adeno-associated virus vector. Rats were exposed to continuous light for a week, and visually evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded. The intensities of continuous light (500, 1000, 3000, and 5000 lx) increased substantially after VEP recordings. After the final recording of VEPs, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) were retrogradely labeled with a fluorescein tracer, FluoroGold, and the number of retinal ganglion cells was counted under a fluorescent microscope. There was no significant reduction in the amplitudes of VEPs and the number of RGCs after exposure to any light intensity. These results indicated that RGCs were photosensitive after the transduction of optogenetic genes and did not induce any phototoxicity by continuous light exposure.Keywords
Funding Information
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (19H03807, 19K09945, 18K09433, and 17H06330)
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