Lubricant gel drops

Retinal morphology and thickness of the ONL of live mice were assessed non-invasively with spectrum domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Mice were anesthetized with an intraperitoneal injection of ketamine (120 mg/kg)/xylazine (12 mg/kg) mixture and pupils were dilated using tropicamide (1%; Falcon Pharmaceuticals, Fort Worth, TX). Lubricant gel drops (Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp, East Hanover, NJ) were applied to maintain the moisture of cornea. Images were acquired using SD-OCT (Bioptigen Inc, Research Triangle Park, NC). Radial volume scan (centered on optic disc, diameter 1.3 mm) was used, and ONL thickness within the 200–400 μm area from the central of optic disk were measured and analyzed for the ONL thickness as previously described33 (link).

Retinal laminar morphology and thickness of the ganglion cell complex (GCC) were assessed in live mice non-invasively using spectrum domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) as established in our lab [30 (link)]. GCC includes the nerve fiber layer, ganglion cell layer (GCL), and inner plexiform layer. Mice were anesthetized by i.p. injection of a ketamine/xylazine mixture, and pupils were dilated using 1% tropicamide. Lubricant gel drops (Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp, East Hanover, NJ) were applied to maintain the moisture of the cornea. Images were acquired using SD-OCT (InVivoVue Clinic; Bioptigen Inc, Research Triangle Park, NC), and 100 radial volume scans covering 360° of the retina (centered on optic disc, diameter 1.3 mm) were collected. The GCC thickness was assessed automatically with Diver 2.0 software (Bioptigen Inc, Research Triangle Park, NC), measured at four points in each scan (200 and 400 μm from the central of the optic disk at both sides, respectively) and averaged from 100 scans of each retina.