FIGURE 6

FIGURE 6

Rod photoreceptors in cardiovascular disruption model systems. (A,C) Cryosections of doubly-transgenic (cdh5:gal4; UAS:nfsB-mCherry), DMSO-treated (DMSO Control; (A); Met-treated (Endothelial Cell-Depleted; (B); and Met-treated clutchmates (Met Control; C) at 72 hpf, stained with 1D1, which labels Rhodopsin. Control retinas show numerous rods (A, arrow), while endothelial cell-depleted retinas display only a patch of rods in ventral retina (B). (D,E) Cryosections of normal clutchmates (D) and sih–/– embryos (E) at 72 hpf, stained with 1D1. Normal retinas show numerous 1D1+ profiles while sih–/– retinas show a reduced number of rods. (F,G) Cryosections of normal clutchmates (F) and vlt–/– embryos (G) at 72 hpf, stained with 1D1, show similar patterns of staining. Scale bar (in A, applies to A–G) = 50 μm. (H,J) Quantification of 1D1+ rods outside the ventral patch, in retinas of endothelial cell-depleted vs. control embryos (H; ***p < 0.001, Kruskal-Wallis with Conover post hoc; n = 6 per condition), sih–/– vs. normal siblings (I; ***p < 0.001, Mann-Whitney test; n = 12 normal, 19 sih–/–), and vlt–/– vs. normal siblings (J; p = 0.55 Student’s t-test; n = 9 normal, 8 vlt–/–).