title: Preservation of visual cortical function following retinal pigment epithelium transplantation in the RCS rat using optical imaging techniques.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the extent of cortical functional preservation following retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) transplantation in the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat using single-wavelength optical imaging and spectroscopy. The cortical responses to visual stimulation in transplanted rats at 6 months post-transplantation were compared with those from age-matched untreated dystrophic and non-dystrophic rats. Our results show that cortical responses were evoked in non-dystrophic rats to both luminance changes and pattern stimulation, whereas no response was found in untreated dystrophic animals to any of the visual stimuli tested. In contrast, a cortical response was elicited in most of the transplanted rats to luminance changes and in many of those a response was also evoked to pattern stimulation. Although the transplanted rats did not respond to high spatial frequency information we found evidence of preservation in the cortical processing of luminance changes and low spatial frequency stimulation. Anatomical sections of transplanted rat retinas confirmed the capacity of RPE transplantation to rescue photoreceptors. Good correlation was found between photoreceptor survival and the extent of cortical function preservation determined with optical imaging techniques. This study determined the efficacy of RPE transplantation to preserve visual cortical processing and established optical imaging as a powerful technique for its assessment.
authors: Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK. c.gias@ucl.ac.uk
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Gias
authors: Myles
authors: M
authors: Jones
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Keegan
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Adamson
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Greenwood
authors: Ray
authors: R
authors: Lund
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Martindale
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Johnston
authors: Jason
authors: J
authors: Berwick
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Mayhew
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Coffey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006801:Humans; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*