Persistent fetal ocular vasculature in mice deficient in bax and bak

P Hahn, T Lindsten, M Tolentino… - Archives of …, 2005 - jamanetwork.com
Background The ocular fetal vasculature normally regresses by apoptosis but for unknown
reasons fails to regress in the human disease persistent fetal vasculature. Objective To
investigate whether proapoptotic Bcl-2 members, Bax and Bak, are involved in fetal
vasculature regression. Methods Adult eyes from mice deficient in Bax and/or Bak were
examined grossly and histologically for persistence of fetal vasculature. Vessels were
identified by the presence of lumens and erythrocytes and by Factor VIII labeling. Eyes from …