Figure 1
Aβ1-40 induces RPE impairment and upregulates pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in vivo. C57BL/6 mice were injected intravitreally with 5 μl of 2.8 μg/μl Aβ1-40 (oligomeric form) or vehicle (PBS). (a) Immunoreactivity for Aβ1-40 was detected in the OS and RPE cells (arrows) at days 1 and 4 in the Aβ-injected sections. Scale bar: 50 μm. (b) TEM of the RPE and Bruch’s membrane regions in mice. Obvious thickening of the BrM and RPE basal in-foldings with ultrastructural alterations (Scale bar: 5 μm) was observed compared with that in the PBS-injected control mice (Scale bar: 1 μm). (c) Demonstration of waveforms of the maximal ERG response and amplitude evaluations of the scotopic ERG responses were recorded. (d) IL-1β, IL-18, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-12b mRNA expression levels in RPE–choroid in response to Aβ1-40 at day 4. BrM, Bruch’s membrane; CC, choriocapillaris; OS, outer segment. Histograms represent the mean and S.E.M. N=8, NS=nonsignificant P-value, *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001 via Student’s t-tests
