title: The mechanism of axonal degeneration after perikaryal excitotoxic injury to the retina.
abstract: We investigated the mechanism of secondary axonal degeneration after perikaryal excitotoxic injury to retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) by comparing pathological responses in wild-type rats and Wld(s) rats, which display delayed Wallerian degeneration. After perikaryal excitotoxic RGC injury, both types of rats exhibited a spatio-temporal pattern of axonal cytoskeletal degeneration consistent with Wallerian degeneration, which was delayed by up to 4 weeks in Wld(s) rats. Furthermore, RGC somal loss was greater in Wld(s) rats. Microglial response in the anterior visual pathway to injury was attenuated in the Wld(s) rats with lymphocytic infiltration that was relatively reduced; however, immunostaining for major histocompatibility complex class II antigens (OX6) was more pronounced in Wld(s) rats. These data indicate that perikaryal excitotoxic RGC injury causes a secondary Wallerian axonal degeneration, and support the notion of a labile, soma-derived axonal survival factor.
authors.affiliation: Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Natalie D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Bull
authors.forename: Glyn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chidlow
authors.forename: John P M
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Keith R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Casson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D055647:Rats, Transgenic; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D014855:Wallerian Degeneration / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*