A longitudinal study on the expression of the opsin gene in the degenerating retina of C3H/He mice.

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系By a combination of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization using a 35S-labeled opsin cDNA probe, it was revealed in rd mutant C3H/He mice that opsin mRNA is not detectable in photoreceptor cells which still exhibit opsin-immunoreactivity at later stages of retinal degeneration. This indicates that the photoreceptor cells of rd mutant mice cease to express the opsin gene at earlier stages of retinal degeneration