Mishra Monalisa, Knust Elisabeth
Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany.
Methods Mol Biol. 2013;935:161-82. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-080-9_11.
The Drosophila compound eye is a regular structure, in which about 750 units, called ommatidia, are arranged in a highly regular pattern. Eye development proceeds in a stereotypical fashion, where epithelial cells of the eye imaginal discs are specified, recruited, and differentiated in a sequential order that leads to the highly precise structure of an adult eye. Even small perturbations, for example in signaling pathways that control proliferation, cell death, or differentiation, can impair the regular structure of the eye, which can be easily detected and analyzed. In addition, the Drosophila eye has proven to be an ideal model for studying the genetic control of neurodegeneration, since the eye is not essential for viability. Several human neurodegeneration diseases have been modeled in the fly, leading to a better understanding of the function/misfunction of the respective gene. In many cases, the genes involved and their function are conserved between flies and human. More strikingly, when ectopically expressed in the fly eye some human genes without a Drosophila counterpart can induce neurodegeneration, detectable by aberrant phototaxis, impaired electrophysiology, or defects in eye morphology. These defects are often rather subtle alteration in shape, size, or arrangement of the cells, and can be easily scored at the ultrastructural level. This chapter aims to provide an overview regarding the analysis of the retina by various means.
果蝇复眼是一种规则结构，其中约750个称为小眼的单元以高度规则的模式排列。眼睛发育以一种固定的方式进行，眼成虫盘的上皮细胞按顺序被指定、募集和分化，从而形成成年眼睛的高度精确结构。即使是很小的扰动，例如在控制增殖、细胞死亡或分化的信号通路中，也会损害眼睛的规则结构，而这种损害很容易被检测和分析。此外，果蝇的眼睛已被证明是研究神经退行性变遗传控制的理想模型，因为眼睛对于生存并非必需。几种人类神经退行性疾病已在果蝇中建立模型，从而更好地理解相应基因的功能/功能失调。在许多情况下，果蝇和人类之间涉及的基因及其功能是保守的。更引人注目的是，当一些在果蝇中没有对应物的人类基因在果蝇眼中异位表达时，会通过异常趋光性、受损的电生理学或眼睛形态缺陷诱导神经退行性变。这些缺陷通常是细胞形状、大小或排列的相当细微的改变，并且可以在超微结构水平上轻松评分。本章旨在概述通过各种方法对视网膜进行的分析。
