Figure 6
Roxa treatment upregulates mitophagy in RGCs. (a) Sections of control retina (left) and retina after 4 weeks of Roxa treatment (right) depict mitochondria (green and red, ‘Mito’) and mitolysosomes (red, ‘MitoL’) in RGCs immunolabeled for RBPMS (blue, top panels), and in Müller glia immunolabeled for Vimentin (blue, lower panels). Mitolysosomes in RGCs (b) and Müller glia (c) were significantly increased after 4 weeks of Roxa treatment; p < 0.0001 by Student’s t-test for RGCs (b) and Müller glia (c). Values are mean ± SEM of n = 6 retinas per group. (d) NIX was significantly higher (F(2,9) = 759.6, p < 0.0001) in 4-week Roxa retinas compared to control and 2-week retinas. Tukey's multiple comparisons test showed NIX levels were significantly higher in 4-week retinas compared to control (p < 0.0001) and 2-week Roxa (p < 0.0001) retinas. There was no significant difference between control vs. 2-week Roxa retinas (p = 0.9848); n = 4 per group. (e) BNIP3 dimer was significantly higher (F(2,9) = 1050, p < 0.0001) in 4-week Roxa retinas compared to control and 2-week retinas. Tukey's multiple comparisons test showed BNIP3 dimer levels were significantly higher in 4-week retinas compared to control (p < 0.0001) and 2-week Roxa (p < 0.0001) retinas. There was no significant difference between control vs. 2-week Roxa retinas (p = 0.8791). Values shown are mean ± SEM of n = 4–6 per group. Proteins were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis and normalized to total protein levels.
