Figure 5. Quantitative analysis of developmental expression of mRNAs for rod-specific ß-subunit of cGMP PDE, opsin, junD, c-fos and 2.0 kb Nrl in rat retinas

The optical density of the ß-subunit of PDE, 1.7 kb opsin, c-fos and junD, and 2.0 kb Nrl mRNA transcripts were determined and normalized for equal loading by comparison with 18S rRNA. The optical densities were determined for each age, normalized to the maximal level of gene expression, then plotted as percent of maximal expression per gene±SEM. Five to seven blots, from independent samples, were analyzed at each age.