Much of the knowledge we have gained into the development of pathological ocular angiogenesis has come from the development of in vivo models that enable functional assessment of key components of signaling pathways in disease progression. Indeed, rodent models have facilitated identification of several therapeutics that target pathological angiogenesis. Two of the most widely used rodent models of oxygen induced retinopathy (OIR), Smith's mouse model and Penn's rat model reproducibly induce neovascularization reminiscent of the disease retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). In this chapter we discuss development of ROP in humans and compare features with that of the rat and mouse models, focusing both on the benefits and caveats of using such models. Furthermore, we discuss in detail the methodology of both procedures and discuss the importance of various features of the model.
Keywords: Angiogenic cascade; Neovascularization; Oxygen-induced retinopathy; Retinopathy of prematurity.