ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of form deprivation on the morphology of different types of RGC in mice.Methods Sixty B6.Cg-Tg (Thy1-YFP) HJrs/J transgenic mice were randomly assigned to form-deprived group (n=28) and control group (n=32). The right eyes of mice in the form-deprived group were covered by an occluder for 2 weeks as experimental eyes. The right eyes of mice in the control group were taken as control eyes. Before and 2 weeks after form deprivation, the refraction and ocular biometrics were measured; RGC were stained with Bra3a antibody and counted; the morphology of RGC was reconstructed with Neuroexplore software after immunohistochemical staining. The data was compared among experimental eyes, fellow eyes and control eyes by one-way analysis of variance.Results Two weeks after form deprivation, the axial myopia was observed in the experimental eyes (refraction:F=15.009,P<0.001; vitreous chamber depth:F=3.360,P=0047; ocluar axial length:F=5.011,P=0013). The number of RGC in central retina of the experimental eyes was decreased compared with the fellow eyes and the control eyes (F=4.769,P=0.035). The reconstructed RGC were classified into 4 types according to their dendritic morphology. Form deprivation affected all 4 types of RGC but in a different way. Among them, 3 types of RGC were likely contribute to form vision perception. Form deprivation increased the dendrite branches in these types of ganglion cells. However, form deprivation decreasd dendrite segment numbers in both eyes and the intersection and length insholl analyse type 4 ganglion cells which were morphologically identified as ipRGC.Conclusion Form deprivation distinguishingly affects the morphology of different types of RGC, indicating that form vision and non-form vision play different role in myopia development.