PDGF and its receptors in the developing rodent retina and optic nerve

Abstract

We have used in situ hybridization to visualize cells in the developing rat retina and optic nerve that express mRNAs encoding the A and B chains of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-A and PDGF-B), and the alpha and beta subunits of the PDGF receptor (PDGFR αR and PDGF βR). We have also visualized PDGF-A protein in these tissues by immunohistochemistry. In the retina, PDGF-A mRNA is present in pigment epithelial cells, ganglion neurons and a subset of amacrine neurons. PDGF-A transcripts accumulate in ganglion neurons during target innervation and in amacrine neurons around the time of eye opening, suggesting that PDGFA expression in these cells may be regulated by targetderived signals or by electrical activity. In the mouse retina, PDGF-A immunoreactivity is present in the cell bodies, dendrites and proximal axons of ganglion neurons, and throughout the inner nuclear layer. PDGFR αR mRNA is expressed in the retina by astrocytes in the optic fibre layer and by a subset of cells in the inner nuclear layer that might be Müller glia or bipolar neurons. Taken together, our data suggest short-range paracrine interactions between PDGF-A and PDGFR, the ligand and its receptor being expressed in neighbouring layers of cells in the retina. In the optic nerve, PDGF-A immunoreactivity is present in astrocytes but apparently not in the retinal ganglion cell axons. PDGF αR+ cells in the optic nerve first appear near the optic chiasm and subsequently spread to the retinal end of the nerve; these PDGFαR+ cells are probably oligodendrocyte precursors (Pringle et al., 1992). RNA transcripts encoding PDGF-B and PDGFβR are expressed by cells of the hyaloid and mature vascular systems in the eye and optic nerve.