Figure 3. Cell division cycle 42 homolog (S.cerevisiae; Cdc42) conditional knockdown was achieved specifically in rod photoreceptor cells. A: PCR products after amplification of the floxed region of Cdc42 from retinal genomic DNA of Cdc42 conditional knockdown (cKD) and control mice at 12-weeks of age were separated and visualized by DNA agarose electrophoresis. Amplification of the floxed sequence results in a 1.5 kb fragment and of the excised sequence in a 0.9 kb product. B: Relative expression of Cdc42 in the outer nuclear layer (ONL; white box), the inner nuclear layer (INL; black box), and the ganglion cell layer (GCL; gray box) of Cdc42 knockdown and control mice was analyzed by real-time PCR after laser capture microdissection. Shown are mean values±SD of 3 independent mice. Expression of Cdc42 in each retinal layer of control mice was set to ‘1’. C: Retinal sections from Cdc42 knockdown and control mice 14 h after light damage were immunofluorescently stained for CDC42. Images are representatives of 3 independent mice per genotype. Red: CDC42. Blue: nuclei (4’,6 diamidino-2-phenylindole [DAPI] staining). Scale: 20 μm. OS: photoreceptor outer segments. IS: photoreceptor inner segments.