KDR and retinal degeneration: Lastly, we evaluated expression level of the remaining subset of nine genes that mediate pro-inflammatory immune response, including CXCL8, TXNIP, PTGES, CD74, CSF1R, CD200R, VEGFA, FLT1 and KDR. TXNIP, PTGES, VEGFA and its two receptors (FLT1 and KDR) were not differentially expressed in any of the three models, suggesting low functional role of the VEGF (angiogenesis pathway) or prostaglandin E (acute inflammatory response) pathways in pathogenesis of retinal degeneration.