Organelle-level mitochondrial imaging in the living mammalian retina

This is a repository of processed data for a manuscript in development at the University of Rochester. In brief: This work establishes the first in vivo organelle-level assessment of mitochondria in the living mammalian retina. Using adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO), mitochondrial organization can now be directly studied in the living mammal non-invasively with resolution that approaches traditional microscopy, but without confounds of histology or limitations of a single time point of evaluation. Our data not only shows organelle-level imaging in the central nervous system, but reveals several features of the dynamic organization of mitochondria that can only be studied in the in vivo. We show an acute photobleach of mitochondria induces a progressive and focal phenotype of photoreceptor loss that can be tracked over time illustrating one avenue of many for future research.