Heterogeneity of Glia in the Retina and Optic Nerve of Birds and Mammals
Figure 5
In the dog retina, astrocytes are immunoreactive Sox2, Sox9 and GFAP, whereas NIRG-like cells are immunoreactive Sox2 and Sox9 alone.
Vertical sections of the retina were label with antibodies to Sox9 (green in a,d,e,g and h), Islet1 (magenta in b and d), Sox2 (red in c and d) and GFAP (red in f–h). Panel h includes orthogonal projections to demonstrate that some of the Sox9-positive nuclei in the NFL are not rimmed by GFAP-positive cytoplasm. Arrow-heads indicate the nuclei of Müller glia. Hollow arrow-heads indicate Islet1-positive nuclei of bipolar cells. Small hollow, double arrow-heads indicate the nucleus of cholinergic amacrine cells that is positive for Islet1 and Sox2. Small double-arrows indicate the nuclei of presumptive NIRG-like cells that are positive for Sox9 and Sox2, but negative for GFAP. Arrows indicate GFAP-positive astrocytes that are labeled for Sox9 and Sox2. The scale bar (50 µm) in panel d applies to d and a–d, the bar in g applies to e–g, and the bar in h applies to h alone. Abbreviations: INL – inner nuclear layer, IPL – inner plexiform layer, GCL – ganglion cell layer, NFL – nerve fiber layer.