Protective Effect of ALA in Crushed Optic Nerve Cat Retinal Ganglion Cells Using a New Marker RBPMS.

Yanling Wang ,Wenyao Wang,Mingliang Pu,Ruixing Liu,Huika Xia,Jie Gao,Xin Huang,Jessica Liu,Nicholas C Brecha

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0160309

Yanling Wang , Wenyao Wang + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160309

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Abstract

In this study we first sought to determine whether RNA-binding protein with multiple splicing (RBPMS) can serve as a specific marker for cat retina ganglion cells (RGCs) using retrograde labeling and immunohistochemistry staining. RBPM was then used as an RGC marker to study RGC survival after optic nerve crush (ONC) and alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) treatment in cats. ALA treatment yielded a peak density of RBPMS-alpha cells within the peak isodensity zone (>60/mm2) which did not differ from ONC retinas. The area within the zone was significantly enlarged (control: 2.3%, ONC: 0.06%, ONC+ALA: 0.1%). As for the 10-21/mm2 zone, ALA treatment resulted in a significant increase in area (control: 34.5%, ONC: 12.1%, ONC+ALA: 35.9%). ALA can alleviate crush-induced RGC injury.

Highlights

The retina ganglion cell layer (GCL) consists mainly of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and displaced amacrine cells
At least eight microscopic fields from each of two retinas were included for quantitative analysis. 100% of the cells labeled by microbeads (Fig 1) were immunoreactive for RNA-binding protein with multiple splicing (RBPMS), while only 15.8± 0.9% of RBPMS positive cells were labeled by microbeads (Table 1)
Retinal ganglion cells of various soma sizes and RBPMS-RGCs were distributed across the entire retina

Summary

Introduction

The retina ganglion cell layer (GCL) consists mainly of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and displaced amacrine cells. Over the years many efforts have been made to develop methods to objectively differentiate between RGCs and displaced amacrine cells. Several antigenic RGC markers, including Brn3a [1,2,3], Thy-1[4], neurofilament [5], and retrograde labeling have been viewed as good markers for RGCs. It was reported that a member of the RNA recognition motif family of RNA-binding proteins known as RNA-binding protein with multiple splicing (RBPMS), and its paralogue RBPMS2 (hermes), are expressed in RGCs in rats [6,7,8,9,10]. Recent studies have revealed that RBPMS can label all RGCs in normal retinas of mouse, rat, guinea pig, rabbit, and monkey [11]. The morphological and physiological properties of cat PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0160309 August 9, 2016

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