Carvedilol treatment increased rod numbers in the Q344X larvae. Representative retinal cryosection of (a) a wildtype larva (WT), (b) a DMSO-treated Q344X larva, and (c) a carvedilol-treated Q344X (car) larva at 7 dpf. Rods were labeled by EGFP expression driven by rho promoter, and the nuclei were counterstained with DAPI. Scale = 50 μm. (d) Quantification of rod number in WT, DMSO-treated Q344X, and carvedilol-treated Q344X retinal cryosections from 5 to 7 dpf. There was a statistically significant difference in rod number between groups at all stages determined by one-way ANOVA at 5 dpf (WT, N = 11; Q344X, N = 16; F(1,25) = 71.04, p value < 0.0001), at 6 dpf (WT, N = 9; Q344X, N = 20; Q344X + car, N = 21 ; F(2,44) = 96.9, p value < 0.0001), and at 7 dpf (WT, N = 9; Q344X, N = 17; Q344X + car, N = 11; F(2,41) = 167.9, p value < 0.0001). The effect of Q344X rod degeneration and carvedilol treatment on rod number was assessed post hoc by pairwise t-test with false discovery rate correction at 6 dpf (WT − Q344X, p value < 0.0001; Q344X − Q344X + car, p value < 0.001) and at 7 dpf (WT − Q344X, p value < 0.0001; Q344X − Q344X + car, p value < 0.001). (e) Representative whole-eye images of WT, Q344X, and carvedilol-treated Q344X larvae at 7 dpf. Rods were labeled by EGFP expression. Left column: WT rods were mainly found on dorsal and ventral retina (top). They were abundantly present in the ventral patch of the retina extending medially (bottom). Middle column: Q344X rods were mostly degenerated at the same stage (top). There were only a handful of rods remaining near the lateral edge of the ventral patch in the Q344X retina (bottom). Right column: carvedilol treatment increased the number of Q344X rods on both dorsal and ventral retina (top); however, gaps of missing rods were still apparently on dorsal retina. More rods were observed in the ventral patch of the carvedilol-treated retina (bottom). Statistical analysis of whole-mount data is shown in Table 2. Scale = 100 μm. D dorsal, V ventral, M medial, L lateral.
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