Study of the expression changes of glial fibrillary acid protein on laser-induced apoptosis of retinal neurons in rabbits
HE Chun-yan
XU Li-jun
WANG Yi
Abstract：Objective To determine the mechanism of retinal neuron death and the expression changes of GFAP by
retinal Muller cells after laser injury. Methods A YAG laser was used to produce retina lesion in rabbits. Terminal deoxynu-
cleotidyl-transferase mediated dUTP and nick labelling(TUNEL)staining was used to identify the apoptotic neurons. The ex-
pression of GFAP by retinal Muller cells was located by immunohistochemistry. Results TUNEL positive apoptotic neurons
were located in all the layers of retina in the 6th hour and on the 1st ,3rd,and 7th day after injury. Apoptotic cells reduced in
number on the 14th day after injury. The TUNEL positive cells were more densely located in the outer nuclear layer. The
Muller cells expressed GFAP starting to increase at 3 days after injury,and increased continuously later. Conclusion Apopto-
sis is an important mechanism of retinal neuron death in laser-injured retina,and the increased expression of GFAP by Muller
cells is probably related to repair of the injury.
Keywords：retinalaser injuryapoptosisglial fibrillary acid protein
Publication Date：2000-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 425-428 )