N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced retinal degeneration in animals

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a human disease characterized by loss of photoreceptor cells leading to visual disturbance and eventually to blindness. Establishment of reliable animal models is essential for better understanding of this disease and approaches to therapeutic intervention. N-Methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced retinal degeneration is highly reproducible, and involves photoreceptor cell loss that ends approximately 7 days after a single systemic administration of MNU. Although the triggering mechanisms of pathogenesis are different and the apoptosis cascade may differ from human RP, MNU-induced photoreceptor cell loss is due to apoptosis. Here, we describe disease progression and therapeutic trials of MNU-induced retinal degeneration in animals.