In mice the retinal vasculature develops in the first postnatal week by spreading from the
optic nerve head towards the retinal periphery. During this growth period, exposure to
hyperoxia causes vaso-obliteration of capillaries in the retinal center but not in peripheral
regions. High oxygen levels lead to downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor
(VEGF), an important survival factor for vascular endothelial cells, which could explain the
vaso-obliteration caused by hyperoxia. However, it is not clear why only capillaries in the …