Abstract
The macula and fovea make human vision unique among mammals. An understanding of the genetic network underlying the development and maintenance of this highly specialized region is instrumental to address issues about human macula-related retinopathies. The pigeon retina, unlike currently available animal models, shares numerous key characteristics of the primate macula and represents a promising new model for the study of retinal development. We provide key elements to take advantage of this new model for the study of retina and brain development. This includes precise embryo staging, transfection of genetic material (reporter plasmid, expression vectors, siRNAs) using in ovo and ex vivo electroporation, live imaging, high-resolution confocal imaging, and data layout and instructions for data analysis.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Philippe Delaunay (Pigeonneau De La Suisse Normande, Croisille, France) for the supply of pigeon eggs over the last six years. To meet our needs, the department of zootechnics at the University of Geneva (Geneva, Switzerland) opened in July 2019 a breeding facility with 50 pairs of pigeons (Columba livia). Upon request, we can provide members of the scientific community with embryonic tissue samples.
Funding: The Swiss National Science Foundation (grants 31003A-149458 and 31003A-175668), the Gelbert Foundation, and the state of Geneva support our laboratory.
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Rodrigues, T., Brodier, L., Matter, JM. (2020). Investigating Neurogenesis in Birds. In: Mao, CA. (eds) Retinal Development. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2092. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0175-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0175-4_1
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