FIGURE 6.
Retinal morphology is maintained in mice with rod photoreceptor-specific Atg7 deletion under room lighting conditions. A, Atg7 expression was examined in Atg7flox/flox;LMOP-Cre+ and littermate Atg7flox/flox;LMOP-Cre− mice at 6 weeks of age. Immunohistochemistry was conducted with anti-Atg7 Ab (red) and DAPI (blue). Atg7 signal was much weaker in the inner segment of Atg7flox/flox;LMOP-Cre+ mice than that of Atg7flox/flox;LMOP-Cre− mice. INL, inner nuclear layer; IS, inner segment; OS, outer segment. Bars indicate 20 μm. B, the steady-state retinal morphology under room lighting conditions in Atg7flox/flox;LMOP-Cre+ mice was examined by histological analysis with epon-embedment together with their wild-type counterparts (Atg7flox/flox;LMOP-Cre−) at the ages of 3 and 6 months. No overt morphological changes were observed in Atg7flox/flox;LMOP-Cre+ mice compared with that from Atg7flox/flox;LMOP-Cre- littermate controls. Bars indicate 20 μm.