Expression of CNTF in Muller cells of the rat retina after pressure-induced ischemia

WE have investigated the expression and cellular localization of ciliary ne urotrophic factor (CNTF) in the rat retina following ischemia induced by tr ansiently increasing the intraocular pressure. In the normal retina, CNTF i mmunoreactivity was restricted to profiles in the ganglion cell layer. Foll owing ischemia and reperfusion, immunoreactivity appeared in Muller cell so mata and processes and its intensity increased between 1 day and 2 weeks po st-lesion. Quantitative evaluation by immunoblotting confirmed that CNTF ex pression continuously increased up to 2 weeks after ischemic injury (to 600 % of control levels), but had declined again to 250% of controls at 4 weeks post-lesion, Our findings suggest that CNTF supplied by Muller cells has a protective function for lesioned neurons following transient ischemia. (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.