The Role of Autophagy–Lysosomal Pathways in Photoreceptor Death in the rd10 Mouse Model of Inherited Retinal Degeneration

Abstract

Inherited retinal degenerations, such as retinitis pigmentosa, are a leading cause of irreversible vision loss, yet broadly effective treatments remain elusive. Impaired cellular waste clearance via autophagy–lysosomal pathways have been implicated in photoreceptor death, but the spatiotemporal dynamics of these processes during degeneration remain poorly understood. Using the rd10 mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa, we characterised autophagy–lysosomal dysfunction at key stages of photoreceptor degeneration (postnatal day P17, P22, P35) through super-resolution imaging of RFP-EGFP-LC3 reporter mice, Western blot, and bulk RNA sequencing. Autophagosome and autolysosome numbers were signific..