Abstract
A better study of postnatal retinal development is essential for the in-depth understanding of the nature of the vision system. To date, quantitative analysis of postnatal retinal development is primarily limited to endpoint histological examination. This study is to validate in vivo optical coherence tomography (OCT) for longitudinal monitoring of postnatal retinal development in developing mouse eyes. OCT images of C57BL/6J mice were recorded from postnatal day (P) 14 to P56. Three-dimensional (3D) frame registration and super averaging were adopted to investigate the fine structure of the retina. Quantitative OCT analysis revealed distinct outer and inner retinal layer changes, corresponding to eye development. At the outer retina, external limiting membrane (ELM) and ellipsoid zone (EZ) band intensities gradually increased with aging, and the IZ band was detectable by P28. At the inner retina, a hyporeflective layer (HRL) between the nerve fiber layer (NFL) and inner plexiform layer (IPL) was observed in developing eyes and gradually disappeared with aging. Further image analysis revealed individual RGCs within the HRL layer of the young mouse retina. However, RGCs were merged with the NFL and the IPL in the aged mouse retina. Moreover, the sub-IPL layer structure was observed to be gradually enhanced with aging. To interpret the observed retinal layer kinetics, a model based on eyeball expansion, cell apoptosis, and retinal structural modification was proposed.
Highlights
The mammalian retina continuously grows after birth, which is the so-called postnatal retinal development
The retinal layer thickness kept changing until P28
In vivo optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides a feasible solution for longitudinal monitoring of postnatal retinal development
Summary
The mammalian retina continuously grows after birth, which is the so-called postnatal retinal development. The dendrites of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) ramify across the whole inner plexiform layer (IPL) at the time of birth and refine into different stratifications during postnatal retinal development [5]. The density of both ribbons and conventional synapses in the IPL continuously increases after eye opening and reaches the peak level by around postnatal day (P) 21 [7]. The receptive field center size of RGCs of the mouse at P28 reduced from the mouse at P17 (3 days after eye opening) [8]. All these studies indicated that the postnatal retinal development after eye opening is important for visual function. An in vivo imaging method for longitudinal monitoring of postnatal retinal development is desirable
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