Retinal Oscillations in rd10 Mice

Retinae of wild type (adult) and rd 10 (postnatal day 30–12 months) mice were prepared for MEA recordings. Briefly, the mouse was deeply anesthetized with isoflurane and killed by decapitation. The eyeballs were enucleated and retinae were isolated. The retinae were cut into two halves and one half was mounted with ganglion cells towards the electrode side of the MEA. MEAs were pre-treated in a plasma cleaner (Diener Electronic GmbH+Co. KG, Germany) and coated with Poly-D-lysine hydrobromide (PDL, Sigma, Germany). The retinal preparation was maintained in carbonate-buffered AMES solution, bubbled with 95% O₂+5% CO₂ at a pH of ∼7.4. All pharmacological agents were dissolved in oxygenated AMES buffer and delivered to the retina by continuous perfusion at a flow rate of 3 ml/min. All results shown are from experiments performed at room temperature (RT). Oscillations at RT (4–6 Hz) were similar to those found in own preliminary experiments carried out at 32°C (5–7 Hz) and to those reported for rd10 at 32°C (4–7 Hz) [16] (link). However, in our hands, recordings at RT showed more stable oscillations and were, therefore, chosen for the long lasting recordings performed in this study.