Fig. 1

Reduced OS length in rods with chronically active HIFs. a Deletion of Vhl leads to chronic activation of HIF transcriptional factors and serves as a model for the aged human retina, in which reduced O₂ delivery may cause tissue hypoxia contributing to development of AMD. b Representative micrographs of the retinal morphology of \(rod^{\varDelta \ Vhl}\) and control (ctrl) mice at 2.5 and 6 months of age. Scale bar, 50 \(\upmu\)m. c,d Spidergrams (left) and bar graphs (right) of OS length (top), IS length (middle) and ONL thickness (bottom) in ctrl (black) and \(rod^{\varDelta \ Vhl}\) (orange) mice at 2.5 (c, N = 4) and 6 months (d, N = 3 \(rod^{\varDelta \ Vhl}\), N = 4 ctrl) of age. N: number of mice (one eye per mouse in the analysis). All measurements from the spidergrams are included in the bar graphs. Data represent mean ± SD. Statistics: two-way ANOVA and Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test (spidergrams) or nested t-test (bar graphs). *: p \(\le\) 0.05. **: p \(\le\) 0.01. ***: p \(\le\) 0.001. ****: p \(\le\) 0.0001. e Chronic HIF activation may affect anabolism through altered glycolysis and mitochondrial metabolism leading to reduced OS biogenesis preceding PR degeneration. OS: outer segments. IS: inner segments. ONL: outer nuclear layer