| Summary: | The aim of this investigation was to initiate proteomic and Raman analysis of the wild type (wt) and retinal dysplasia and degeneration (rdd) chick retina. 20 protein profiles were generated for wt and rdd adult and embryonic chicken retina, immunohistochemical analysis was carried out for a number of proteins, and, Raman maps were constructed demonstrating the principal components in the wt, rdd, embryonic and post hatch chick retina. Initially differential solubilisation protocols were employed prior to 20 PAGE and subsequently, distinct protein profiles were generated for the different methods of extraction. 20 PAGE, image analysis and MS were used to analyse the developing retinal proteome from wt chick retina. A number of developmentally regulated proteins that may be intrinsic to the process of retinal maturation were identified and their expression plotted over the examined time frame. Proteomic analysis of the rdd retina identified seven proteins that were modulated during retinal degeneration and immunohistochemical analysis was employed to localise a number of proteins in the avian retina. This study provided the first holistic investigation of protein changes in the rdd chick retina and may enable focus to specific proteins and specific pathways that may play key roles in the initiation and progression of retinal degeneration. A parallel study employed Raman microscopy to investigate the distribution of the dominant biochemical species in the chick retina and detected and mapped the distribution of proteins, lipids, cytochrome, saccharide and DNA in the developing and degenerating retina. To conclude, this study of developing and degenerating chick retina was interfaced with the complex developmental and degenerative events in the rdd chick. Two interrelated research platforms, proteomics and Raman microscopy, were used to begin to define wt chick retinal biochemistry with that expressed in the developing and degenerating rdd chick retina.
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