Vertebrate photoreceptor neurons have a high demand for metabolic energy, and their
viability is very sensitive to genetic and environmental perturbations. We investigated the
relationship between energy metabolism and cell death by evaluating the metabolic effects
of glucose deprivation on mouse photoreceptors. Oxygen consumption, lactate production,
ATP, NADH/NAD+, TCA cycle intermediates, morphological changes, autophagy, and
viability were evaluated. We compared retinas incubated with glucose to retinas deprived of …