C3h hej strain

For all MEA and retina patch clamp recordings we used 3- to 7-month-old homozygous rd1/rd1 Opn4^−/− mice (C3H/HeJ strain, Charles River Laboratories), if not otherwise indicated. Furthermore, we investigated local field potentials in rd1/rd1 Opn4^−/− mice (C57Bl6JRj background), in wild type (C57Bl6JRj) and Opn4^−/− mice [gift of Satchin Panda, Salk Institute, La Jolla, California, USA]) animals as well as in the blind, but nondegenerating mouse line (Gnat1^−/−Gnat2^−/−Opn4^−/−, derived from Gnat1^tm1Clma and B6.Cg-Gnat2^cpfl3/Boc, The Jackson Laboratory). Mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Retinas were dissected and kept in artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) at room temperature containing 125 mM NaCl, 2.5 mM KCl, 1.25 mM NaH₂PO₄, 1 mM MgCl₂, 2 mM CaCl₂, 26 mM NaHCO₃, and 20 mM D-glucose; aerated with 95% O₂/5% CO₂.
All animal use procedures were approved by the University of Washington Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees. All experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.

Retinas from WT mice (C57BL/6 J strain, Jackson Laboratory), homozygous rd1/rd1 mice (C3H/HeJ strain, Charles River Laboratories) 3–6 months old were used in the MEA experiments. 5–6 month old Dutch Belted rabbits were used for the large animal histology and pharmacokinetic experiments. Mouse procedures were approved by the UC Berkeley Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and rabbit procedures were approved by the Western Michigan University IACUC. All experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.