Biomaterial Database

Programmed cell death of retinal ganglion cells during experimental glaucoma. 1995

E Garcia-Valenzuela, and S Shareef, and J Walsh, and S C Sharma

Department of Cell Biology, New York Medical College, Valhalla 10595, USA.

The death of retinal ganglion cells during glaucoma is thought to result from damage to their axons as they exit the eye through the lamina cribrosa. In this study, intraocular pressure in the rat was increased to twice the normal average by cauterizing two limbal-derived veins. To investigate whether retinal ganglion cells in the glaucomatous eye follow an apoptotic type of death, DNA breaks in nuclei were labeled in situ, using a method that specifically incorporates biotinylated deoxynucleotides by exogenous terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase to the 3'-OH ends of DNA. The active nature of the death mechanism was demonstrated by the reduction in numbers of biotin-labeled nuclei after administration of the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide. Our results suggest that retinal ganglion cells of the adult rat die through apoptosis when the intraocular pressure is markedly increased. This raises new possibilities in the treatment of glaucomatous damage to the retina, by the potential interruptibility of a program for neuronal death.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007429	Intraocular Pressure	The pressure of the fluids in the eye.	Ocular Tension,Intraocular Pressures,Ocular Tensions,Pressure, Intraocular,Pressures, Intraocular,Tension, Ocular,Tensions, Ocular
D003513	Cycloheximide	Antibiotic substance isolated from streptomycin-producing strains of Streptomyces griseus. It acts by inhibiting elongation during protein synthesis.	Actidione,Cicloheximide
D004253	DNA Nucleotidylexotransferase	A non-template-directed DNA polymerase normally found in vertebrate thymus and bone marrow. It catalyzes the elongation of oligo- or polydeoxynucleotide chains and is widely used as a tool in the differential diagnosis of acute leukemias in man. EC 2.7.7.31.	Terminal Addition Enzyme,Terminal Deoxyribonucleotidyltransferase,Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase,Deoxynucleotidyltransferase,Desoxynucleotidyl Transferase,Desoxynucleotidyltransferase,Tdt Antigen,Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase,Terminal Deoxyribonucleotidyl Transferase,Addition Enzyme, Terminal,Antigen, Tdt,Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase, Terminal,Deoxyribonucleotidyl Transferase, Terminal,Deoxyribonucleotidyltransferase, Terminal,Enzyme, Terminal Addition,Nucleotidylexotransferase, DNA,Transferase, Deoxynucleotidyl,Transferase, Desoxynucleotidyl,Transferase, Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl,Transferase, Terminal Deoxyribonucleotidyl
D005901	Glaucoma	An ocular disease, occurring in many forms, having as its primary characteristics an unstable or a sustained increase in the intraocular pressure which the eye cannot withstand without damage to its structure or impairment of its function. The consequences of the increased pressure may be manifested in a variety of symptoms, depending upon type and severity, such as excavation of the optic disk, hardness of the eyeball, corneal anesthesia, reduced visual acuity, seeing of colored halos around lights, disturbed dark adaptation, visual field defects, and headaches. (Dictionary of Visual Science, 4th ed)	Glaucomas
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012165	Retinal Ganglion Cells	Neurons of the innermost layer of the retina, the internal plexiform layer. They are of variable sizes and shapes, and their axons project via the OPTIC NERVE to the brain. A small subset of these cells act as photoreceptors with projections to the SUPRACHIASMATIC NUCLEUS, the center for regulating CIRCADIAN RHYTHM.	Cell, Retinal Ganglion,Cells, Retinal Ganglion,Ganglion Cell, Retinal,Ganglion Cells, Retinal,Retinal Ganglion Cell
D017208	Rats, Wistar	A strain of albino rat developed at the Wistar Institute that has spread widely at other institutions. This has markedly diluted the original strain.	Wistar Rat,Rat, Wistar,Wistar Rats
D017209	Apoptosis	A regulated cell death mechanism characterized by distinctive morphologic changes in the nucleus and cytoplasm, including the endonucleolytic cleavage of genomic DNA, at regularly spaced, internucleosomal sites, i.e., DNA FRAGMENTATION. It is genetically programmed and serves as a balance to mitosis in regulating the size of animal tissues and in mediating pathologic processes associated with tumor growth.	Apoptosis, Extrinsic Pathway,Apoptosis, Intrinsic Pathway,Caspase-Dependent Apoptosis,Classic Apoptosis,Classical Apoptosis,Programmed Cell Death,Programmed Cell Death, Type I,Apoptoses, Extrinsic Pathway,Apoptoses, Intrinsic Pathway,Apoptosis, Caspase-Dependent,Apoptosis, Classic,Apoptosis, Classical,Caspase Dependent Apoptosis,Cell Death, Programmed,Classic Apoptoses,Extrinsic Pathway Apoptoses,Extrinsic Pathway Apoptosis,Intrinsic Pathway Apoptoses,Intrinsic Pathway Apoptosis
D051381	Rats	The common name for the genus Rattus.	Rattus,Rats, Laboratory,Rats, Norway,Rattus norvegicus,Laboratory Rat,Laboratory Rats,Norway Rat,Norway Rats,Rat,Rat, Laboratory,Rat, Norway,norvegicus, Rattus