Fig. 6: Increased oxidative stress in the retinas of Pitx2^KI mice.

A–C Mean levels of SOD (A) and GSH-Px (B) activities, MDA (C) content in the Pitx2^WT (n = 13) and Pitx2^KI (n = 11) retinas. Individual values are shown by dots in the histogram. D ROS activity measured by DHE staining; the red staining is positive for ROS content. Nuclei were counter-stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bars: 200 μm. High-magnification images of boxed areas are shown in the lower panel. Scale bars: 25 μm. E Quantification of the fluorescence intensity of DHE staining (n = 9). F Representative confocal microscopy images of immunofluorescent staining of NRF2 (oxidative stress regulator, red) and DAPI (blue) in retina sections from 5-week-old mice. Scale bar: 25 μm. G Representative immunoblots of 5-week-old retinal lysates from Pitx2^WT and Pitx2^KI mice stained for NRF2. β-actin was used as the loading control. Uncropped immunoblotting images are shown in Fig. S12. H Quantification of immunoblots of retina lysates from Pitx2^WT and Pitx2^KI mutant mice. NRF2 level (normalized to control) in retinas from mutant mice was elevated compared with levels in control mice (n = 9). ONL, outer nuclear layer; INL, inner nuclear layer; GCL, ganglion cell layer. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001. The data are presented as mean ± SEM.