Fig. 5: Lipe^−/− mice develop mild-moderate progressive outer retinal thinning with age.

OCT images were analyzed to measure total retinal thickness (TRT, blue line in panel a), outer nuclear layer (ONL, white line), outer retinal thickness (ORT, red line) and ganglion cell complex (GCC, yellow line). Representative OCT scans (a–d) demonstrate qualitative hyperreflective changes in the photoreceptor outer segments of Lipe^−/− mice from an early age (2–3 months old). ONL appears fairly normal in Lipe^−/− mice at that age, but shows some thinning by 13–14 months of age. Quantitative analysis (e–h) demonstrates that Lipe^−/− mice develop statistically significant thinning of TRT (e), ONL (f), and ORT (g), compared to age-matched Lipe^+/+ mice. OCT thickness for figures e–g was quantified for Lipe^+/+ (n = 7, 10, 10, 5, and 4 eyes at 2–3, 4–5, 6–7, 8–10, and 11–13 months old, respectively) and Lipe^−/− (n = 10, 12, 14, 5, and 4 eyes at 2–3, 4–5, 6–7, 8–10, and 11–13 months old, respectively). The thinning is statistically significant by 4–5 months of age and worsens progressively with aging. However, no thinning of the GCC was seen (h). OCT thickness for figure h was quantified for Lipe^+/+ (n = 10, 10, 5 and 4 eyes at 4–5, 6–7, 8–10, and 11–13 months old, respectively) and Lipe^−/− mice (n = 12, 14, 5, and 4 eyes at 4–5, 6–7, 8–10, and 11–13 months old, respectively). Each data point represents an eye. One eye per mouse was analyzed. Data are presented as Mean ± SEM. Two-tailed Student’s t test. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.