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Editors Selection IGR 9-1

Imaging: Microtubules

Comment by Hans Lemij on:

15097 Microtubule contribution to the reflectance of the retinal nerve fiber layer, Huang XR; Knighton RW; Cavuoto LN, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 2006; 47: 5363-5367

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Huang et al . (1011) studied the reflectance caused by microtubules (MTs), intracellular cylindrical structures parallel to the ganglion cell axons in the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). This study follows earlier work in rat retinas by the same authors,¹ in which they demonstrated that the MTs cause all the RNFL birefringence that can be measured by scanning laser polarimetry (SLP), the technology used in the commercially available GDx. Like in their previous work, rat retinas were, in vitro, subjected to colchicine, a depolymerising agent. The authors found that approximately 50% of all RNFL reflectance could be attributed to MTs at the three different light wavelengths that they used.

Approximately 50% of all RNFL reflectance could be attributed to microtubules

They argue that these data probably also relate to human retinas, and that other structures than the MTs will therefore also contribute to RNFL reflectance. Their findings may open new areas of research with potential clinical relevance. RNFL reflectance is obviously important for structural imaging in glaucoma, by (red-free) fundus photography, scanning laser tomography (SLT) and optical coherence tomography (OCT).

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