Analysis of Retinal Vascular Plexuses and Interplexus Connections.

The retina is a highly organized neural tissue consisting of three neural layers and two synaptic layers. Blood vessels that nourish the mouse and human neural retina mirror this organization consisting of three plexus layers, or plexuses, that run parallel within the retina, connected by interplexus vessels to create a closed vascular network. Here, we describe a methodology to describe this organization that can be used to interrogate factors mediating retinal vessel patterning including: coverage of the vascular plexuses, branching and orientation of the interplexus connections, and digital reconstruction of the retinal vasculature to measure vessel length and density. The methodology focuses on the mouse retina, but can easily be adapted to study retinal vessels of other species.