Mouse model of oxygen-induced ischemic retinopathy (OIR)

At postnatal day (P) 7, litters of C57BL/6 mice were placed in an incubator containing 75%±3% oxygen continuously monitored with a Pro:Ox model 110 oxygen sensor (Reming Bioinstruments Co., Redfield, NY). At P12, the mice were returned to room air and dosed with acriflavine by the following routes: (1) an intravitreous (intraocular) injection of 1 μl of PBS containing 50 or 100 ng of acriflavine in one eye and 1 μl of PBS in other eye, (2) daily intraperitoneal injections of 0.1, 1, or 5 mg/kg of acriflavine, or (3) topical eye drops containing 0.1% or 0.5% acriflavine three times a day. At various time points after initiation of dosing, mice were euthanized and retinas were dissected and used for quantitative real-time RT-PCR, ELISA, or measurement of area of retinal NV.