| In the absence of appropriate visual stimuli (form-rich) aberrant ocular growth occurs and results in an enlarged and myopic eye. Pathways that respond to growth-modulating stimuli and regulate eye growth are located primarily in the retina. The focus of this thesis was to identify retinal neurons that specifically respond to the type of visual stimuli required for emmetropization and then to modulate the activity of these cells in order to evaluate their role in ocular growth-control.; The expression of Fos, an immediate early gene product, was used as an indicator of cell activation in response to the onset of emmetropizing stimuli.; Antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (AODN) were used to block the expression of Fos (all Fos isoforms), Fra-2, or c-Fos in the retina in order to assess the role of these proteins in growth-control. AODN were applied to eyes exposed to diffuse or form-rich visual stimulation to test whether the development of myopia or emmetropia respectively would be affected. In order to simplify the retina, by eliminating specific populations of amacrine cells, some eyes were treated with quisqualate (QA) prior to AODN treatment. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
