Establishing the ground squirrel as a superb model for retinal ganglion cell disorders and optic neuropathies.

ABSTRACT: Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death occurs after optic nerve injury due to acute trauma or chronic degenerative conditions such as optic neuropathies (e.g., glaucoma). Currently, there are no effective therapies to prevent permanent vision loss resulting from RGC death, underlining the need for research on the pathogenesis of RGC disorders. Modeling human RGC/optic nerve diseases in non-human primates is ideal because of their similarity to humans, but has practical limitations including high cost and ethical considerations. In addition, many retinal degenerative disorders are age-related making the study in primate models prohibitively slow. For these reasons, mice and rats are commonly used to model RGC injuries. However, as nocturnal mammals, these rodents have retinal structures that dif

SUBMITTER: Xiao X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8753557 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature