Aging Cell (2008) 7, pp526–540 Doi: 10.1111/j.1474-9726.2008.00402.

Aging-related changes in astrocytes in the rat retina:

Blackwell Publishing Ltd

imbalance between cell proliferation and cell death

reduces astrocyte availability

Hussein Mansour, Coral G. Chamberlain, Michael W. Introduction

Weible II, Suzanne Hughes, Yi Chu & Tailoi Chan-Ling
Astrocytes are key participants in maintaining homeostasis of
School of Medical Sciences (Anatomy and Histology) and Bosch the brain, spinal cord and retina throughout life. Their filament
Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
processes are known to contact blood vessels, neurons and
neighbouring astrocytes via gap junctions, sodium and potas-
Summary sium voltage-gated channels, and aquaporin water channels.
The functional roles of astrocytes include regulation of ion
The aim of this study was to investigate changes in astrocyte
homeostasis, neurotransmitter removal and synthesis, energy
density, morphology, proliferation and apoptosis occur-
metabolism, neuronal synaptic transmission, maintenance of
ring in the central nervous system during physiological
the blood–brain barrier, and calcium signalling (Ransom &
aging. Astrocytes in retinal whole-mount preparations
Chan-Ling, 2004; Takuma et al., 2004; Benarroch, 2005; Volt-
from Wistar rats aged 3 (young adult) to 25 months (aged)
erra & Meldolesi, 2005). Within the central nervous system
were investigated qualitatively and quantitatively follow-
(CNS), astrocytes play an essential role in ensuring optimal neu-
ing immunofluorohistochemistry. Glial fibrillary acidic
ronal functioning and survival, and alterations in the protective
protein (GFAP), S100 and Pax2 were used to identify
partnership between astrocytes and neurons may lead to neu-
astrocytes, and blood vessels were localized using Grif-
ronal dysfunction. Thus, detailed knowledge of astrocytes as
fonia simplicifolia isolectin B4. Cell proliferation was
well as neuronal populations is important for understanding
assessed by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and cell
both the functioning of the CNS during physiological aging and
death by TUNEL-labelling and immunolocalization of the
changes associated with neurodegenerative disease (Tacconi,
apoptosis markers active caspase 3 and endonuclease G.
1998; Unger, 1998; De Vellis, 2002; Takuma et al., 2004; Volt-
The density and total number of parenchymal astrocytes
erra & Meldolesi, 2005).
in the retina increased between 3 and 9 months of age
The effects of aging on the neuronal population of the CNS
but decreased markedly between 9 and 12 months. Pro-
have been extensively investigated (Turlejski & Djavadian, 2002).
liferation of astrocytes was detected at 3 months but
Although neuronal death is a feature of the developing CNS,
virtually ceased beyond that age, whereas the proportion
recent research suggests that neuronal death does not play a
of astrocytes that were TUNEL positive and relative
large part in normal age-related senility and that neurogenesis
expression of active caspase 3 and endonuclease G
is probably not a major factor during aging in most brain regions
increased progressively with aging. In addition, in aged
(Unger, 1998; Su et al., 2000; Turlejski & Djavadian, 2002; Bernal
retinas astrocytes exhibited gliosis-like morphology
& Peterson, 2004; Takuma et al., 2004; Rao et al., 2006; Leuner
and loss of Pax2 reactivity. A small population of Pax2+/
– et al., 2007). In contrast, the effects of aging on the astrocyte
GFAP cells was detected in both young adult and aged
population have received relatively little attention.
retinas. The reduction in the availability of astrocytes in
Following CNS trauma and in pathological conditions asso-
aged retinas and other aging-related changes reported
ciated with aging, including cerebral ischaemia, Alzheimer’s
here may have a significant impact on the ability of
disease and Parkinson’s disease, astrocytes undergo reactive
astrocytes to maintain homeostasis and support neuronal
gliosis, which is generally associated with hypertrophy and
function in old age.
marked variations in the expression of cytoplasmic antigens,
Key words: aging; apoptosis; cell counts; central nervous
surface proteins, growth factors and oxidoreductive enzyme
system; glial fibrillary acidic protein; S100.
activity (Liu et al., 1996; Schipper, 1996; Unger, 1998). Changes
in astrocytes typical of reactive gliosis occur in the aging brain
even when no sign of disease is apparent (Finch, 1993; Schipper,
1996; Cotrina & Nedergaard, 2002). These include hypertrophy
Correspondence
Tailoi Chan-Ling, PhD, Associate Professor, Anatomy and Histology (F13), of astrocytes and gliosis-like changes in morphology (Landfield
School of Medical Sciences and Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, et al., 1977; Geinisman et al., 1978; Bjorklund et al., 1985;
NSW 2006, Australia. Tel.: +612 93512596; fax: +612 93516556; Lolova, 1991; Berciano et al., 1995; Jalenques et al., 1995;
e-mail: tailoi@anatomy.usyd.edu.au Amenta et al., 1998; Sabbatini et al., 1999; Sloane et al., 2000).
Accepted for publication 8 April 2008 In addition, astrocytes in the brain exhibit aging-related

526 © 2008 The Authors

Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008

increases in expression of the typical astrocyte proteins glial
fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and S100 (Finch, 1993; Sheng
et al., 1996; Unger, 1998; Cotrina & Nedergaard, 2002) and
an increase in lipofucsin granules (Lolova, 1991). In astrocytes
in the human hippocampus, expression of fibroblast growth
factor-2 decreases between young adulthood and middle age,
coinciding with a decrease in neurogenesis (Shetty et al., 2005).
However, changes in astrocytes do not occur uniformly
throughout the brain during aging and may be influenced by
factors such as species or nutrition (Lolova, 1991; Unger, 1998).
Hypertrophy of astrocytes, increased GFAP expression and
distinctive morphological changes also occur in the human
retina and rat optic nerve with aging (Madigan et al., 1994;
Ramirez et al., 2001; Cavallotti et al., 2003). In addition, astrocytes
in retinas from aged humans show a loss of Pax2 expression
compared with those from foetuses (Chu et al., 2001).
Many investigators have reported that CNS aging is associated
with an increase in the density of astrocytes in various regions
of the brain in humans and other mammalian species (Lolova,
1991; Jalenques et al., 1995; Sheng et al., 1996; Amenta et al.,
1998; Peinado et al., 1998; Cotrina & Nedergaard, 2002; Wu
et al., 2005). However, others have reported a decrease or no
change (Peters et al., 1991; Berciano et al., 1995; Nishimura
et al., 1995; Desjardins et al., 1997; Sabbatini et al., 1999; Shetty
et al., 2005; Lasn et al., 2006). This issue is clouded by technical
difficulties as well as differences between species and regions
of the brain (Nishimura et al., 1995; Peinado et al., 1997, 1998;
Amenta et al., 1998; Sloane et al., 2000; Turlejski & Djavadian,
2002; Lasn et al., 2006). A decrease in astrocyte density has
been reported for retinas from humans aged more than 60 years
compared with those 40 years of age or younger (Ramirez
et al., 2001).
Astrocyte density is critically influenced by astrocyte prolifera-
tion and death. Both these processes occur during development
and in certain pathological conditions associated with aging
(Krueger et al., 1995; Li et al., 1997; Sandercoe et al., 1999; Su
et al., 2000; Chu et al., 2001; Takuma et al., 2004), but little
is known about their contribution during physiological aging.
Proliferating astrocytes were detected in 8-day-old kitten retina
but not in adult cat retina (Chan-Ling, 1997). DNA fragmentation
associated with cell death, assessed by TdT-mediated-dUTP nick
+
end-labelling (TUNEL), was detected in 12% of GFAP astrocytes
in a study of frontal cortices of normal aged humans (Li et al.,
+
1997), and a small number of TUNEL astrocytes have been
detected in white matter of normal aged human brain (Su et al.,
2000). Immunoreactivity for active caspase 3, a marker for
+
apoptosis (programmed cell death), was localized in GFAP
astrocytes in the subventricular zone of both young and aged
mice (Susin et al., 2000; Yakovlev & Faden, 2004; Luo et al.,
2006). The effect of aging on astrocyte death in the retina has
not been investigated previously.
The retina, an extension of the CNS which shares a common
developmental origin with the brain, offers unique advantages
for the study of cellular and vascular changes associated with
CNS aging because of its flattened structure (reviewed in
© 2008 The Authors
Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al. 527
Chan-Ling, 2006; Chan-Ling et al., 2007). Confocal microscopy
of retinal wholemount preparations, as used here, allows visu-
alization of the complex interaction between cells and blood
vessels throughout the entire depth and area of the retina in a
single specimen.
In this study, we have characterized and quantified changes
in astrocytes in retinas from rats aged from 3 to 25 months,
spanning life stages from young adulthood to old age (Coleman,
1989). The morphology and density of astrocytes were assessed
in various regions of the retina. Astrocytes were identified by
colocalization of GFAP and S100 (Boyes et al., 1986) or Pax2,
a transcription factor expressed by astrocytes (Chu et al., 2001).
In addition, astrocyte proliferation was assessed by bromode-
oxyuridine (BrdU) labelling, while cell death was assessed by
TUNEL labelling and immunolocalization of active caspase 3, a
marker for caspase-dependent apoptosis, and endonuclease G,
a marker for caspase-independent apoptosis (Li et al., 2001; Lee
et al., 2005).
This study has revealed that proliferation virtually ceases
beyond young adulthood while cell death increases progressively
throughout adult life. Furthermore, aging affects not only the
morphology of astrocytes but also their capacity to express Pax2.
Results
All GFAP+ astrocytes are S100+ in young adult and aged
retinas
+ +
GFAP /S100 cells with morphology typical of astrocytes were
found throughout the nerve fibre layer and ganglion cell layer
of the retina at all ages examined, as illustrated for parenchymal
cells in aged rats in Fig. 1A–C. GFAP was expressed in the
astrocyte somas and processes, whereas expression of S100 was
restricted to the perinuclear region of the somas. S100 was
+
found only in GFAP cells exhibiting typical astrocyte morphology
in retinas from rats of all ages. Double-labelling for GFAP and
S100, as in the present study, represents a more reliable method
for identifying astrocytes for cell density determinations than
labelling for GFAP alone (Boyes et al., 1986; Halliday et al.,
1996; Kimelberg, 2004; Ransom & Chan-Ling, 2004) or basing
identification on nuclear morphology (Peinado et al., 1998).
Although immunoreactivity for S100 has previously been
reported in both astrocytes and Müller cells in the retina (Kondo
et al., 1984; Schnitzer, 1987; Karim & Itoh, 1997), it is clear that
the S100 antibody did not label Müller cells under the immuno-
localization conditions used here.
Changes in astrocyte density and numbers with aging
The density of parenchymal (non-vascular-associated) astrocytes
in retinas of rats of various ages is shown in Fig. 2(A). In each
region (central, midperipheral and peripheral), there was a
significant increase in cell density between 3 and 9 months of
age (p < 0.01), over a period during which the area of the retina
increased by approximately 55% (Fig. 2B). This was followed by
528 Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al.

Fig. 1 Astrocyte morphology and distribution in the retina of young adult and aged rats. Central (A, D, G), midperipheral (B, E, H) and peripheral (C, F, I)
regions of retinas obtained from 3-month-old (D–F) and 18-month-old (A–C, G–I) rats are shown. GFAP (red) and S100 (green) labelling of astrocytes is shown
in every case; in D–I only, labelling of blood vessels with GS lectin (blue) is also shown. (A–C) Co-expression of GFAP and S100 by astrocytes throughout all
regions of the retina persisted into old age. Typical parenchymal astrocytes are indicated by arrows in A–C. GFAP+ expression was detected in somas and cell
processes, whereas S100 expression was restricted to the cell soma. (D–I) Some GFAP+/S100+ cells were vascular-associated (arrows). Irrespective of age,
interfilament processes of vascular-associated astrocytes in all retinal regions ensheathed blood vessels extensively (curved arrows). All images are confocal
micrographs from z-series projections of 10–15 optical slices. Scale bar, 50 μm (A–I).

a marked reduction in cell density between 9 and 12 months
(p < 0.001), at a time when the retinal growth rate, as indicated
by the retinal area, was slowing (Fig. 2). Overall, the density of
astrocytes tended to be greater in young adults than in aged
rats (3 months vs. 18 months, p < 0.01) and the astrocyte layer
was thicker, the mean thickness (± SEM) being 27.8 ± 1.0 μm
at 3 months compared with 20.5 ± 1.2 μm at 18 months
(p < 0.001). When aging-related changes in the retinal area
were taken into account by expressing data as the total number
of astrocytes per retina, as defined in the legend to Fig. 2, the
increase in parenchymal astrocyte numbers between 3 and
9 months became even more evident (Fig. 2B). Similar aging-
related trends and differences in regional distribution were
noted for vascular-associated astrocytes, based on average
number of cells per field of view (FOV), with a marked decrease
between 9 and 12 months of age in each of the three retinal
regions (p < 0.001) (data not shown). The biological significance
of the above aging-related changes in astrocyte density and the
tendency for astrocytes to be more abundant in the midperiph-
eral region is not known.
At all ages investigated, the processes of vascular-associated
astrocytes ensheathed large retinal blood vessels (Fig. 1D–I).

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Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008

Fig. 2 Changes in density and number of parenchymal astrocytes in the retina
with aging. Each value represents the mean ± SEM of data from three retinas
from different rats. (A) The mean density of parenchymal astrocytes
throughout the retina was determined by counting S100-labelled cells in the
central (), midperipheral () and peripheral () regions of whole-mount
preparations at each age. (B) The total number of astrocytes present in the
retina at each age investigated (). These values were calculated by averaging
the astrocyte density (per mm2) obtained for each region at each age
indicated, as given in (A), and multiplying this value by the corresponding
mean total area of the retina in mm2. The dotted line indicates the total area
of the retina at each age investigated (, right hand axis).
These vessels tended to be less densely populated with vascular-
associated astrocytes in retinas of aged rats than in young adult
retinas. Quantitative analysis indicated that there was a reduction
in the number of vascular-associated astrocytes per FOV of 50–
65% in the central, midperipheral and peripheral regions of the
retina between 3 and 18 months of age (p < 0.01). The latter
finding supplements previous reports of aging-related changes
in the vasculature of the rat retina including narrowing of
blood vessels, deterioration of the blood–retinal barrier, vessel
destabilization with associated pericyte changes and emergence
of an immune response adjacent to retinal vessels (Bhutto &
Amemiya, 1995; Hughes et al., 2006; Chan-Ling et al., 2007).
Constitutive astrocyte proliferation detected in the
young adult retina only
The labelling technique used, together with confocal micros-
copy, made it possible to discriminate unambiguously between
© 2008 The Authors
Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al. 529
BrdU-labelled nuclei belonging to astrocytes and those belonging
–
to neighbouring GFAP non-astrocytic cells (Fig. 3A–D). In the
first series of BrdU-labelling experiments, randomly scattered
+
BrdU astrocytes were detected throughout retinas of 3-month-
+
old rats (12–19 cells per retina; Fig. 3E). However, no BrdU
astrocytes were detected in any of 15 retinas obtained from rats
aged 6–25 months. BrdU-labelling was detected in 4/4 retinas
at 3 months of age and 0/6 retinas at 6 months, a highly
significant difference (p = 0.001). An additional experiment
+ +
indicated that the density of BrdU astrocytes and BrdU
non-astrocytes in the retina decreased rapidly between 1 and
6 months of age and confirmed that the rate of proliferation
of astrocytes became negligibly low by 6 months of age
(Fig. 3F).
BrdU incorporation was detected in many non-astrocytic cells
in both young and aged retinas (Fig. 3C,D,F,G), indicating that
the BrdU-labelling procedure used in these experiments was
effective at all ages investigated. A subpopulation of cells iden-
+ – +
tified as Pax2 /GFAP constituted approximately 10% of BrdU
non-astrocytic cells at each age examined in the experiment
reported in Fig. 3(F).
Increase in astrocyte cell death throughout adult life
The TUNEL method in conjunction with immunolabelling with
S100 and GFAP allowed identification of astrocytes undergoing
+
DNA fragmentation (Fig. 4A–C). TUNEL astrocytes were present
+
in the retina throughout adult life, together with many TUNEL
non-astrocytic cells (Fig. 4D–F). The percentage of astrocytes
+
that were TUNEL increased continuously from 3 months to
18 months of age (Fig. 4G). There was a particularly marked
increase in this percentage between 9 and 12 months (p <
0.001), coinciding with a period of rapid decline in astrocyte
density in all regions of the retina (see Fig. 2A), and a further
increase between 12 and 18 months (p < 0.05). The contribution
+ +
of TUNEL astrocytes to the total number of TUNEL cells present
in the retinas was greater for aged rats than for 3-month-old
young adults (p < 0.01). In these experiments, aging-related
+
trends in the overall density of all astrocytes present (i.e. TUNEL
–
and TUNEL , parenchymal and vascular-associated) were con-
sistent with those reported for parenchymal astrocytes in
Fig. 2(A) (data not shown).
Many TUNEL-labelled astrocytes and non-astrocytic cells
also expressed active caspase 3 and endonuclease G (Fig. 5A,B;
Table 1) and percentage expression was greater at 18 months
than at 3 months of age (Table 1). Note that there was an
+
overall tendency for the total number of TUNEL cells to be
lower in caspase-3-labelled retinas than in matched endo-
nuclease-G-labelled retinas (Table 1). This suggests that the
longer fixation time, required to retain the small caspase 3
molecule, may have reduced the sensitivity of the TUNEL
method (cf. Saraste, 1999). Consistent with this suggestion and
the fact that caspase 3 activation is an early event in this apoptotic
+ –
pathway (Keane et al., 1997), numerous caspase-3 /TUNEL cells
were observed in these retinas (Fig. 5A).
530 Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al.

Fig. 3 Cell proliferation in retinas from young and aging rats. Proliferating cells were identified by immunolabelling BrdU (green) following 14 days of treatment
in vivo and astrocytes were identified by co-immunolabelling for GFAP (red) and Pax2 (blue). (A–D) A BrdU+ nucleus (arrow) is apparent in a GFAP+/Pax2+
astrocyte (arrowhead) in a 3-month-old retina (A, B). In a 25-month-old retina (C, D), the BrdU+ cell (arrow) is a non-astrocytic cell lying outside the underlying
GFAP+/Pax2+ cell (arrowhead). (E) Mapping of BrdU+ astrocytes in representative retinas of 3-month-old rats. The position of each BrdU+/GFAP+ astrocyte is
indicated by a black dot. The open circle indicates the position of the optic nerve head. (F) Changes in the densities of BrdU+ astrocytes () and BrdU+ non-
astrocytic cells () between 1 and 6 months of age. Each value represents the mean ± SEM. (G) A retina from a 25-month-old rat showing strong reactivity
for BrdU in non-astrocytic cells. Scale bar, 25 μm (A–D), 60 μm (G).

became thicker and more randomly distributed and were often

Reactive gliosis-like changes in astrocyte morphology
with aging
Figure 6 allows comparison of astrocyte morphology in various
regions of the retina of young adults and illustrates the changes
that occur with aging. Astrocytes in young adult retinas char-
acteristically had a stellate morphology, especially in the central
region (Fig. 6A) where somas were more condensed and
processes were thinner than in the midperipheral and peripheral
regions (Fig. 6B,C). With aging, the processes of the astrocytes
present in bundles, resulting in somas with a web-like morphol-
ogy in most astrocytes (Fig. 6D–I). Reorganization of the
cytoskeleton as indicated by multiple branching of individual
processes was also apparent in many astrocytes of retinas from
middle-aged and aged rats (Fig. 6F,G). Thus, with aging, the
retina became more densely packed with the GFAP+ processes
of astrocytes. GFAP-labelled cells consistently showed intense
immunofluorescence in somas and processes and in all regions
of both young and aged retinas.

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Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
 Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al. 531

Fig. 4 Cell death in retinas from young adult and aging rats. Retinas from rats aged 9 (A–C), 12 (D) and 18 (E) months are shown. (A–E) TUNEL labelling.
Astrocytes were identified by double labelling for GFAP (red) and S100 (blue) and cells undergoing DNA fragmentation were identified by the TUNEL method
(green). Individual TUNEL-labelled cells typically exhibited reactivity in discrete rounded bodies, which when present in astrocytes were located within the S100+
cell soma as expected for nuclei (A–C). TUNEL labelling was evident in both astrocytes (arrowheads, C–E) and non-astrocytic cells (large arrows, D, E). Many
TUNEL– astrocytes were also present (small arrows, D, E). Images are confocal micrographs from z-series projections of 5–10 optical slices. Scale bar, 25 μm
(A–E). (F, G) Quantitative analysis. TUNEL-labelled astrocytes and non-astrocytic cells were counted in three retinal whole mounts at each of the ages indicated.
+ +
Each value represents the mean ± SEM. F indicates the density of TUNEL astrocytes () and TUNEL non-astrocytic cells () in the retinas at the ages indicated.
G indicates the number of TUNEL+ astrocytes expressed as a percentage of the total number of astrocytes present.

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Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
532 Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al.

Fig. 5 Expression of various markers in retinal astrocytes. (A, B) Markers for apoptosis in TUNEL+ astrocytes. Retinas from 21-month-old rats were TUNEL-
labelled (green) then double immunolabelled for GFAP (blue) and active caspase 3 (A) or endonuclease G (B) (red). Overlapping green and red fluorescence
appears yellow. TUNEL+ astrocytes exhibiting reactivity for caspase 3 or nuclear reactivity for endonuclease G are indicated by arrowheads and corresponding
TUNEL+ non-astrocytic cells are indicated by thick arrows (A, B). Small arrows indicate reactivity for caspase 3 in TUNEL– astrocytes (A) or nuclear reactivity for
endonuclease G in a TUNEL– non-astrocytic cell (B). Small flecks of endonuclease G reactivity scattered throughout the retina (B) are consistent with the constitutive
+
mitochondrial expression of this enzyme. (C,D) Pax2 and GFAP expression. Retinas of 3-month-old (C) and 19-month-old (D) rats showing abundant Pax2 /
GFAP+ astrocytes (arrowheads, C,D), scattered Pax2–/GFAP+ astrocytes (thick arrows, D) and Pax2+/GFAP– cells (small arrows, C, D). A central region of the
retina is shown in each case. Scale bar, 25 μm (A–D).

19 months of age, respectively. Furthermore, the overall intensity

Astrocytes lose Pax2 expression with aging +
of immunoreactivity for Pax2 in Pax2 astrocytes declined with
+ +
Although Pax2 /GFAP cells were the predominant astrocyte aging (p < 0.001, 3 months vs. 19 months). In supplementary
phenotype in retinas from both young adult and aged rats, experiments, it was found that loss of Pax2 expression was
+ +
GFAP astrocytes that lacked detectable Pax2 were also present disproportionately high among TUNEL astrocytes compared
in all regions of the retina, especially in retinas from aged rats with the total astrocyte population (Table 2).
(Fig. 5C,D). Quantitative analysis revealed that the proportion
– + +
of Pax2 /GFAP cells relative to all GFAP cells increased with
Pax2+/GFAP– cells persist in aged retinas
aging (Table 2A). These data together with data for astrocyte
– +
density given in Fig. 2 indicate that the density of Pax2 Another cell type, Pax2 cells that lacked GFAP expression, was
–2
astrocytes was approximately 8 and 15 cells mm at 3 and also noted. These cells were present in young adult retinas and

© 2008 The Authors

Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
 Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al. 533

Table 1 Expression of apoptosis markers by TUNEL+ cells Table 2 Loss of Pax2 expression by astrocytes with aging

Age (months) n Caspase 3 (%) n Endonuclease G (%) (A) All GFAP+ cells (B) TUNEL+/GFAP+ cells

–
Astrocytes Age (months) n Pax2 cells (%) n Pax2– cells (%) p-value
3 43 44 40 30
18 103 72* 347 48** 3 1512 2.7 18 22.2 0.001
19 1383 8.8** 99 46.5* < 0.001
Non-astrocytic cells
3 62 27 143 18
Pax2 expression by GFAP+ cells (A) or TUNEL+/GFAP+ cells (B) was assessed
18 209 41** 553 24 by counting appropriately labelled cells throughout retinas labelled for (A)
Pax2 and GFAP with DAPI counterstaining or (B) Pax2, TUNEL and GFAP. Data
In each case, cell counts from two retinas were pooled. n indicates the total from three (A) or two (B) retinas from different animals were pooled. n
number of TUNEL+ active caspase-3-positive cells or TUNEL+ cells showing indicates the total number of Pax2– astrocytes present in all fields of view
nuclear translocation of endonuclease G present in all fields of view counted. counted. In each case, the percentage values were obtained by expressing n
The percentage values were obtained by expressing n as a percentage of the as a percentage of the corresponding total number of Pax2– plus Pax2+
corresponding total number of TUNEL+ cells in these fields of view. astrocytes in these fields of view. The p-value indicates the significance of
*p ≤ 0.01, **p ≤ 0.03, 3 months vs. 18 months. the difference between values in A and B.
*p ≤ 0.01, **p ≤ 0.03, 3 months vs. 19 months.

Fig. 6 Changes in astrocyte morphology with aging. Central (A, D, G), midperipheral (B, E, H) and peripheral (C, F, I) regions of GFAP-immunolabelled retinas
from 3- (A–C), 9- (D–F) and 18-month-old (G–I) rats are shown. The somas of individual astrocytes in the central region of young adult retinas were more
compact than those in the corresponding peripheral region (large arrowheads, A, C) and in all regions of older rats (D–I). Generally, the processes of astrocytes
were thin in the retinas of young rats (arrows, A) and emerged from the soma at regular intervals, giving the cells a stellate appearance. In contrast, in retinas
from older rats processes were thicker (arrows, D, I), processes tended to be present in bundles (small arrowheads, D, H) and emerged more randomly from
the soma, giving the soma a diffuse web-like appearance (D–I). Multiple branching of processes was observed only in older rats (large arrows, F, G). All images
are confocal micrographs from z-series projections of 0–5 optical slices. Scale bar, 25 μm (A–I).

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Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
534 Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al.
persisted in the retinas of aged rats (Fig. 5C,D, arrowheads). The
+ –
proportion of Pax2 /GFAP cells relative to the total number of
+
GFAP astrocytes was 5.4% at 3 months and slightly higher,
6.3% at 19 months (p = 0.03), corresponding to densities of
–2
approximately 15 and 10 cells mm , respectively. Given that
– +
there were no GFAP /S100 cells in these retinas (see above),
+ – – +
these Pax2 /GFAP cells must also be S100 .
Discussion
This study, the first detailed investigation of both proliferation
and death of astrocytes during physiological aging of the CNS,
has revealed that the aging process results in an imbalance
between these two processes. It has also revealed a marked
decrease in the density of astrocytes between middle age and
old age, as occurs in the human retina (Ramirez et al., 2001),
together with changes in astrocyte morphology and Pax2
expression which are suggestive of functional changes.
Cells of the astrocyte lineage present in young and
aged retinas
Throughout the CNS, astrocytes show considerable pheno-
typical, morphological and functional diversity (Emsley & Macklis,
+
2006). All the GFAP cells localized in adult rat retinas in the
present study exhibited typical ‘fibrous’ type I astrocyte
morphology. Studies of the type I astrocyte lineage in vivo and
in vitro indicate that lineage-restricted astrocyte precursor cells
(APCs) arise from multipotent neuro-epithelial stem cells or
astrocytic stem cells (Steindler & Laywell, 2003; Ransom &
+ +
Chan-Ling, 2004). These APCs, which are Pax2 /vimentin /
– – + +/–
GFAP /S100 , give rise progressively to immature Pax2 /vimentin /
+ +
GFAP /S100 astrocytes (‘perinatal astrocytes’) and finally
– + +
Pax2 /GFAP /S100 astrocytes (‘adult astrocytes’) (Mi & Barres,
1999; Chu et al., 2001).
+
In the present study, both ‘immature’ Pax2 and ‘mature’
–
Pax2 astrocytes were present in retinas from young and aged
rats, as shown previously for retinas from aged humans (Chu
+
et al., 2001). However, in the study of human retinas, the Pax2
astrocytes were restricted to a limited region around the optic
+
nerve head, whereas Pax2 astrocytes predominated throughout
the rat retina at all ages we investigated. This difference may
simply reflect the much longer lifespan of humans, which would
allow more individual astrocytes in humans to progress from
+ + – +
the Pax2 /GFAP to the Pax2 /GFAP phenotype with aging.
+
Although Pax2 astrocytes are known to have proliferative (and
migratory) potential in the developing human retina (Chu et al.,
2001), we show here that proliferation of astrocytes in the rat
retina virtually ceases by 6 months of age.
+ + –
Pax2 /vimentin /GFAP APCs have been detected in human
foetal retinas and developing rat retinas but not in retinas
obtained from 69- to 79-year-old humans (Chu & Chan-Ling,
2001; Chu et al., 2001). They have also been isolated from
developing rat optic nerve (Mi & Barres, 1999). In addition,
+ –
Pax2 /GFAP cells have been detected in adult human brain
Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
(Y Chu, T. Chan-Ling and C. Harper, unpublished data). In the
+ – –
present study, Pax2 /GFAP /S100 cells were found not only in
young adult rat retinas but also in aged retinas, with no apparent
aging-related reduction in their numbers, and it was shown that
some of these cells were proliferative, at least at 1–6 months
of age. Supplementary studies have indicated that 60% and
– –
30% of these Pax2 /GFAP /S100 cells in young adult and aged
retinas, respectively, express vimentin (H. Mansour and T. Chan-
Ling, unpublished data). Therefore, a small subpopulation of
APCs is retained in the retina throughout adult life and into old
age. This is consistent with growing evidence that other glial
progenitors and neural stem cells persist in the adult CNS (Liu
& Rao, 2004; Ransom & Chan-Ling, 2004; Shetty et al., 2005;
Rao et al., 2006). Thus, proliferation and differentiation of APCs
may contribute to the astrocyte population of the retina
throughout adult life. Moreover, resident APCs in the retina
represent a potential source of astrocyte replenishment following
trauma or in pathological conditions, even in old age.
Marked increase in astrocyte numbers between 3 and
9 months of age
Between 3 and 9 months of age, the density of parenchymal
astrocytes increased significantly in all regions of the retina and
the total number of parenchymal astrocytes in the retina
doubled. Because proliferation of astrocytes virtually ceased by
6 months of age, it is unlikely that this increase was due solely
to proliferation of astrocytes. Moreover, the rate of astrocyte
death did not decrease between 3 and 9 months. It thus
appears that additional astrocytes were continually being added
to the retina from some other source(s) during this period.
One possible source of additional astrocytes are the vimentin+
APCs present in the retina (see above). However, these cells
were present in relatively small numbers throughout life and it
is not known whether they undergo proliferation between 3
and 9 months. Previous studies have shown that astrocytes
enter the retina via the optic nerve head during embryonic and
postnatal development of the cat, rat, mouse and human (Ling
& Stone, 1988; Watanabe & Raff, 1988; Ling et al., 1989; Huxlin
et al., 1992; Chu et al., 2001). Consistent with this suggestion
is the finding of Chu et al. (2001) that ‘immature’ astrocytes in
the adult human retina are restricted to a small annulus around
the optic nerve head (Chu et al., 2001). The present study raises
the possibility that such migration of astrocytes into the retina
may occur as the retina and eyeball grow in adult life, at least
until 9 months of age. This may accompany expansion of the
vascular tree in the growing retina, as happens during embry-
onic development (Sandercoe et al., 1999).
A specialized site of astrocyte generation has been detected
at the ventricular surface of the retina surrounding the optic
nerve head in foetal retinas of humans (Chu et al., 2001) and
rats (T. Chan-Ling, Y. Chu, L. Baxter, S. Hughes and M. Weible,
unpublished data). However, it is not known whether an
analogous site of astrogenesis surrounds the optic nerve head
of young adult and aged rats. A possible contribution during
© 2008 The Authors

physiological aging from another potential source of retinal
astrocytes, circulating bone-marrow-derived haematopoietic
stem cells (Chan-Ling et al., 2006), also remains to be determined.
Imbalance between astrocyte proliferation and death
with aging
We found that, whereas astrocyte proliferation virtually ceased
in young adulthood, the proportion of dying astrocytes
increased progressively throughout adult life and especially
beyond 9 months of age, when there was a corresponding
marked decrease in the total number of astrocytes. In contrast,
in the small subventricular zone of the mouse brain, a highly
specialized niche within the CNS that retains the capacity to
support limited stem cell self-renewal, neurogenesis and glio-
genesis in adult life (Hattiangady & Shetty, 2006; and reviewed
in Bernal & Peterson, 2004; Ransom & Chan-Ling, 2004), the total
number of astrocytes does not change with aging and there
is a marked decrease in the proportion of caspase-3+/GFAP+
astrocytes (Luo et al., 2006).
Astrocyte death occurs via two apoptotic pathways
TUNEL-labelling alone does not provide definitive evidence of
apoptosis (Saraste, 1999; Jugdutt & Idikio, 2005). The presence
of cleaved caspase 3 indicates activation of the classic caspase-
dependent apoptotic pathway, which is generally associated
with pyknosis and nuclear fragmentation together with DNA
fragmentation at the molecular level (Susin et al., 2000). On
the other hand, translocation of endonuclease G from the
mitochondria to the nucleus is indicative of caspase-independent
apoptosis (Li et al., 2001). This study has revealed that apoptosis
of astrocytes (and non-astrocytic cells) occurs at an increasing
rate via both caspase-dependent and caspase-independent
pathways in retinas of young adult and aged rats. It is not
known whether the vascular damage that occurs spontaneously
in the rat retina during physiological aging (Chan-Ling et al.,
2007) results in hypoxia and death of some cells by oncosis, a
non-apoptotic process, as occurs following focal ischaemia in
the rat cerebellum (Chu et al., 2007).
In retinas from aged rats, approximately 12.5% of astrocytes
were TUNEL+ (Fig. 4), a value comparable to that reported for
the frontal cortex of the aged human brain (Li et al., 1997). Such
measurements of markers for cell death do not directly indicate
the rate of cell death, however, because the number of TUNEL
cells detected depends on both the ‘clearance time’, the time
it takes for a dead cell to be cleared away by phagocytosis, and
the particular detection method applied (Chang et al., 1993;
Voyvodic et al., 1995). It appears that the clearance time of
apoptotic astrocytes in the retina may be relatively long, especially
in the aged retina. First, there was only a modest decrease in
the number of astrocytes in the retina between 12 and
18 months despite the presence of a very high proportion of
+ +
TUNEL astrocytes (Fig. 4). Second, very few TUNEL /GFAP
astrocytes in either young adult or aged retinas showed typical
© 2008 The Authors
Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al. 535
signs of late-stage apoptosis via the caspase-dependent pathway
such as pyknosis and nuclear fragmentation. In contrast, in the
postnatal rat retina, at a time when there is a high rate of
+ +
apoptosis, about 95% of TUNEL /GFAP cells exhibit pyknotic
or fragmented nuclei (Krueger et al., 1995).
Gliosis-like changes and loss of Pax2 expression
The aging-related morphological changes in astrocytes described
in the present study are consistent with many previous studies
in brain and retina, which indicate that astrocytes undergo
hypertrophy and other reactive gliosis-like changes during aging
(see Introduction). Furthermore, the aging-related increase
+
in the density of packing of the processes of GFAP -labelled
astrocytes observed in the present study (Fig. 6) is consistent
with a previous study in the rat which showed a significant
increase in the ratio of GFAP to total protein in various regions
of the brain between 3 and 24 months of age (Linnemann &
Skarsfelt, 1994). In the rat retina, we found that aging and
+
reactive gliosis-like changes in GFAP astrocytes were accom-
panied by loss of Pax2 expression from these cells.
Pax2 is known to be a major regulator of patterning during
organogenesis of the eye and other organs (Torres et al., 1996)
but it is not known whether loss of Pax2 expression by astrocytes
in adult life or during aging has any impact, either positive or
negative, on their ability to perform their essential functions.
Previous studies have indicated that the most mature astrocytes
in the astrocyte lineage lack Pax2 expression (Chu et al., 2001).
Consistent with Pax2–/GFAP+ astrocytes being a late stage in the
astrocyte lineage, cells of the latter phenotype showed a greater
+ + +
tendency to be TUNEL than cells that were Pax2 /GFAP
+
(Table 2). It is unlikely that apoptotic TUNEL astrocytes, which
comprise a higher proportion of the total astrocyte population
in aged retinas, are capable of functioning normally.
Implications for neuron-astrocyte interactions
In the normal CNS, astrocytes fulfil a wide range of supportive
functions and form a protective partnership with neurons (see
Introduction). Studies of neurological disorders indicate that
reactive gliosis may have either a positive or negative effect on
neuronal function and maintenance (Pekny & Nilsson, 2005).
Reactive astrocytes may regulate the removal of harmful sub-
stances produced by damaged neurons and support neuronal
+
growth or they may contribute to a decline in neurological func-
tion by releasing harmful substances (Tacconi, 1998). It is not
known whether, on balance, the gliosis-like changes that occur
during physiological aging produce harmful or beneficial effects
in terms of maintaining a suitable environment for neuronal
survival and function.
The neuronal layers of the retina that are closely associated
with astrocytes are the ganglion cell layer and the nerve fibre
layer, which contain the retinal ganglion cells and their axons.
+
It has been reported that the density of neuronal cells in the
ganglion cell layer of the rat retina gradually decreases with
536 Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al.
aging (Katz & Robison, 1986; Weisse, 1995; Harman et al., 2003;
Neufeld & Gachie, 2003) However, there is no decrease in the
total number of neuronal or retinal ganglion cells present in
the ganglion cell layer (Harman et al., 2003; Feng et al., 2007).
Furthermore, the number of retinal ganglion cell axons in the
rat optic nerve remains constant between 5 and 20 months of
age (Cepurna et al., 2005). These findings are consistent with
recent studies of many regions of the CNS which, contrary to
earlier beliefs, indicate that neuronal numbers remain relatively
stable with aging (Turlejski & Djavadian, 2002).
In contrast to the findings for neuronal cell numbers described
above, the present study indicates that there is a marked
decrease in the total number of both parenchymal and vascular-
associated astrocytes in the retina between 9 and 18 months
of age. Thus, as rats age, fewer retinal astrocytes are present
to interact with neighbouring neuronal cells. Given the many
functions served by astrocytes (see Introduction), it is likely that
this change in astrocyte availability and other aging-related
changes in the astrocyte population reported here will impact
on the function of neurons during physiological aging and/or
their ability to withstand challenges encountered under path-
ological conditions. However, it seems unlikely that the aging-
related changes in astrocyte numbers and characteristics
reported here are having a major adverse effect on neuronal
survival given that no significant reduction in the total number
of neurons occurs in the rat retina with aging (see above).
In summary, this study has revealed that physiological aging
is accompanied by changes in the characteristics of astrocytes
in the retina and a decline in the total number of astrocytes
present. Furthermore, taken together with the findings of
others that the number of associated neuronal cells in the
ganglion cell layer remains relatively constant with aging, this
study indicates that aging leads to a decrease in the availability
of astrocytes to neighbouring neurons in the retina. It thus raises
the possibility that such changes may predispose the retina to
aging-related diseases such as glaucoma and macular degen-
eration. Because the retina mirrors the status of the brain, as
reviewed in Chan-Ling et al. (2007), it will also be important to
investigate whether aging-related changes in the astrocyte
population or in the astrocyte/neuron ratio contribute to the
aetiology of neurodegenerative disease in other regions of
the CNS.
Experimental procedures
Animals and tissue preparation
Wistar rats were used and experiments targeted the following
age groups: young adult (3 months old), middle-aged (6–
12 months old) and aged (18–25 months old). The animals were
individually housed in an environmentally controlled room at
approximately 23 °C with a 12 : 12 hour light/dark cycle and
were given commercial rat chow and water ad libitum. All
experiments were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of
the University of Sydney. Unless otherwise indicated, anaesthesia
Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
was induced with a mixture of O2, NO2 and 5% halothane, then
maintained by an intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobar-
–1
bitone (60 mg kg ). Transcardial perfusion was performed
using 0.1 M phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.4, followed
by 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in 0.1 M phosphate buffer,
pH 7.4, eyes were removed and retinal whole mounts were
prepared as described previously (Chan-Ling, 1997). Free-floating
retinas were postfixed with 4% PFA for 1 h at room temperature,
unless otherwise indicated, washed with PBS and used imme-
diately for a variety of histochemical procedures.
Fixed retinal whole mounts were permeabilized with 1%
Triton-X 100 in PBS for 30 min at room temperature and blocked
with 1% bovine serum albumin in PBS for 30 min before appli-
cation of primary antibodies. All antibodies and streptavidin
conjugates were diluted in 1% bovine serum albumin in PBS;
GS-lectin was dissolved in Hanks’ balanced salt solution. Primary
antibodies and GS-lectin were applied overnight at 4 °C,
secondary antibodies and streptavidin conjugates for 2 h at
room temperature. Between each reagent application, retinas
were washed twice with 0.1% Triton-X 100 in PBS, then 1–2
times with PBS (5 min per wash). Processed retinas were mounted
in antifade medium (0.5% p-phenylenediamine dissolved in
20 mM Tris, pH 8.8, and glycerol) (1 : 9 v/v).
Antibodies and markers
The following antibodies and markers were used in this study:
unconjugated and Cy3-conjugated mouse monoclonal anti-
GFAP (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA); rabbit polyclonal anti-S100
(Code HPR61D; Silenus, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia); rabbit
polyclonal anti-cleaved caspase 3 (Asp 175; Cell Signaling
Technology, Danvers, MA, USA); goat polyclonal anti-endo-
nuclease G (G18; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA,
USA), mouse monoclonal anti-BrdU (clone Bu20a IgG1; Dako,
Glostrup, Denmark); rabbit polyclonal anti-Pax2 (Zymed, San
Francisco, CA, USA); Alexa 488-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG and
anti-mouse IgG1 (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, USA); biotinylated
anti-rabbit Ig (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences, Buckinghamshire,
UK; Sigma); biotinylated anti-goat IgG (Novus Biologicals,
Littleton, CO, USA); biotinylated Griffonia simplicifolia (Bandei-
raea) isolectin B4 (GS lectin) (Sigma); and Cy5- and Cy3-conjugated
streptavidin (Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, West Grove,
PA, USA).
Co-visualization of astrocytes and blood vessels and
determination of astrocyte density
An immunohistochemical method involving triple labelling with
GS-lectin, S100 and GFAP was established for qualitative and
quantitative analysis of parenchymal and vascular-associated
astrocytes. Biotinylated GS lectin was used at a concentration
–1
of 50 μg mL and S-100 and Cy3-conjugated GFAP antibodies
were used at dilutions of 1 : 50 and 1 : 800, respectively. A
single retina from each of three rats was processed at each
age investigated.
© 2008 The Authors

To ensure adequate sampling, each retinal whole mount was
demarcated arbitrarily by dividing it into three concentric zones
marking off approximately one-third of the distance from the
centre to the periphery, designated the central, midperipheral
and peripheral regions, respectively. In each of these regions,
+
S100 somas of parenchymal astrocytes were counted in
8 representative 250 × 250 μm FOV at ×40 magnification using
a Leica TCSNT confocal microscope (Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar,
Germany). The mean of these 8 values was used to calculate the
2
mean density of parenchymal astrocytes (cells per mm ) in each
region. This assessment excluded ‘vascular-associated astrocytes’,
that is, astrocytes associated by either their somas or the end feet
of processes with the small blood vessels of the retinal capillary
+
bed sometimes present in the FOV. In addition, S100 vascular-
associated astrocytes were counted in four FOV centred on
arteries and four FOV of view centred on veins in each region.
It was not possible to determine absolute densities of vascular-
associated astrocytes because the astrocyte layer in each FOV
was partially occupied by a blood vessel of variable, indetermi-
nate volume.
An estimate of changes in the area of the retina was obtained
by determining the area of three retinal whole-mount prepara-
tions at each age by analysis of merged photo images using
Zeiss AxioVision version 4.0 acquisition software (Carl Zeiss
MicroImaging, Jena, Germany) and Adobe Photoshop CS version
8.0 (Adobe Systems, San Jose, CA, USA). The mean thickness
of the fluorescent layer occupied by GFAP+ astrocyte processes
was determined by confocal microscopy in 8 FOV in each region
of the retinas of 3- and 18-month-old rats.
Assessment of astrocyte proliferation
Initially, BrdU (Sigma) was administered to rats aged 3, 6, 7, 12
and 25 months via their drinking water for 2 weeks prior to
–1
sacrifice at a concentration of 1 mg mL (solution prepared
freshly every third day). Rats were anaesthetized by administering
–1
an overdose of ketamine hydrochloride (33 mg kg ), then
perfused with PBS and PFA and used for preparation of retinal
whole mounts as described above, except that free-floating
retinas were postfixed in 70% ethanol at –20 °C for 20 min
followed by PFA at 4 °C for 2 min. Triple labelling of BrdU, GFAP
and Pax2 was carried out using the appropriate primary anti-
bodies at dilutions of 1 : 50, 1 : 800 and 1 : 200, respectively.
Prior to BrdU labelling the whole mounts were treated with 2
M HCl then 0.1 M sodium tetraborate, pH 8.3, as described by
Chan-Ling (1997). The following numbers of retinas, each from
a different animal, were assessed at the ages indicated:
3 months (n = 4), 6 months (n = 6), 7 months (n = 2), 12 months
(n = 4) and 25 months (n = 3). The total number of proliferating
astrocytes detectable in each retina was determined by counting
all BrdU-labelled astrocytes using the ×40 objective of the Leica
+ + +
confocal microscope. This included BrdU /Pax2 /GFAP somas
+ – +
and also BrdU /Pax2 /GFAP cells that were clearly identifiable
as astrocytes on the basis of GFAP labelling alone. Maps of
+
retinal whole mounts showing the location of BrdU astrocytes
© 2008 The Authors
Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al. 537
were prepared as described previously (Morcos & Chan-Ling,
1997). Pax2 was used as a marker for astrocyte nuclei in these
experiments because the ethanol fixation procedure, required
to obtain reactivity for BrdU (Chan-Ling, 1997), precluded the
use of the S100 antibody for this purpose.
Subsequently BrdU was administered in parallel to two 1-
month-old, three 3-month-old and three 6-month-old rats, as
described above. Intake of the BrdU-containing drinking water
was measured over the 14-day treatment period for each rat
and comparison of data for 6-month-old rats with correspond-
ing data for control rats provided with tap water indicated that
inclusion of BrdU had no significant effect on water intake. Retinas
from BrdU-treated rats were fixed and all left retinas were
processed for immunohistochemistry as described above in a
single batch. BrdU-labelled nuclei of astrocytes (GFAP+) and
–
non-astrocytic (GFAP ) cells were counted in 48–82 FOV
(224 × 224 μm) throughout each retina using the ×40 objective
of a Zeiss LSM 510 META confocal microscope and cell densities
were calculated.
Assessment of astrocytic and non-astrocytic
cell death
The second retina from each of the rats used for determining
astrocyte densities was assessed as follows. An In Situ Cell
Detection Kit (F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland), based
on the TUNEL method, was used to fluorescein-label the nuclei
of retinal cells undergoing DNA fragmentation (Hughes & Chan-
Ling, 2000; Potter et al., 2006). Samples were then double-
immunolabelled for GFAP and S100, as described above except
that a biotinylated secondary antibody with Cy5-conjugated
streptavidin was used to detect S100. Using the ×40 objective
of the Leica confocal microscope, the numbers of TUNEL+ astro-
+ + – +
cytes (i.e. S100 /GFAP cells), TUNEL astrocytes and TUNEL
non-astrocytic cells were determined by counting nuclei of
appropriately labelled cells in 19–30 FOV (250 × 250 μm)
representative of the entire retina and cell densities were
calculated. Both parenchymal and vascular-associated astrocytes
were counted. Fields that were incomplete, damaged, or showed
unacceptably high background were excluded, as were small
+
clusters of TUNEL nuclei in necrotic regions occasionally present
+
in a few of these retinas. For each retina, the number of TUNEL
astrocytes was expressed as a percentage of the total number
+
of astrocytes present. The percentage of TUNEL astrocytes
that expressed Pax2 was determined in a similar manner in
TUNEL-labelled young and aged retinas double-immunolabelled
for Pax2 (cy3) and GFAP (cy5).
Cell death and localization of active caspase 3 and
endonuclease G
Retinal whole mounts were prepared from two 3-month-old
rats and two 21-month-old rats. To allow localization of
caspase 3, one retina from each rat was postfixed with PFA
for 5 h instead of 1 h. All retinas were then TUNEL-labelled and
538 Aging-related changes in astrocytes in rat retina, H. Mansour et al.
double immunolabelled with unconjugated GFAP antibody
(1 : 600) and antibodies for either cleaved (active) caspase 3
+ Amenta F, Bronzetti E, Sabbatini M, Vega JA (1998) Astrocyte changes
(1 : 500) or endonuclease G (1 : 500). The proportion of TUNEL
astrocytes that expressed caspase 3 or endonuclease G was
determined by direct counting of appropriately labelled nuclei
as described in the previous section, except that a Zeiss Decon-
volution Axioplan 2 microscope was used at ×20 magnification
and each FOV was 390 × 306 μm.
Effect of aging on Pax2 expression
Because the BrdU-labelling experiments described above
–
revealed the presence of some Pax2 astrocytes, the following
experiments were carried out to determine the relative proportion
+ –
of Pax2 and Pax2 astrocytes in retinas from young adult and
aged rats. Whole-mount preparations of a single retina from
each of three 3-month-old and three 19-month-old rats were
double-immunolabelled with Pax2 (1 : 200) using biotin-
streptavidin for detection and GFAP using the unconjugated
antibody (1 : 600). Cell nuclei were counterstained with
4,6,diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) at a concentration of
–1
1 μg mL . Individual astrocytes were identified by GFAP expres-
sion and the presence of a DAPI-stained nucleus. The decon-
volution microscope was used as above to ascertain the
+ + – + + –
number of Pax2 /GFAP , Pax2 /GFAP and Pax2 /GFAP cells in
30 FOV representative of all regions of the retina. The same scan
and acquisition parameters were used for all retinas and the
overall intensity of fluorescence for Pax2 in each FOV was
assigned an arbitrary grade from 1 to 4 in increasing order of
intensity.
Statistical analysis
One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated measures
one-way ANOVA were used for analysis of differences in cell
densities in rats of different ages and different regions of the
retina, respectively, with Bonferroni’s correction for post-hoc
multiple comparisons. Fisher’s exact test was used for comparing
proportions of various cell types or outcomes and the Mann–
Whitney ranking test was used for analysing fluorescence
intensity gradings. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered
statistically significant.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grants to T.C.-L. from the National
Health and Medical Research Council of Australia 464859 and
402824, the Baxter Charitable Foundation and the Rebecca
Cooper Medical Research Foundation (Sydney, Australia). H.M.
is the recipient of a University of Sydney Medical Foundation/
Bluesand Research Scholarship. The authors thank Peiren Kent
for assistance with BrdU experiments and Dr Louise Cole of the
Bosch Institute Advanced Microscopy Facility for advice on con-
focal microscopy.
Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008
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