Heterogeneity of human corneal endothelium implicates lncRNA NEAT1 in Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy.

ABSTRACT: The corneal endothelium is critical for maintaining corneal clarity by mediating hydration through barrier and pump functions. Progressive loss of corneal endothelial cells during aging has been associated with the development of Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD), one of the main causes of cornea-related vision loss. The mechanisms underlying FECD development remain elusive. Single-cell RNA sequencing of isolated healthy human corneas discovered 4 subpopulations of corneal endothelial cells with distinctive signatures. Unsupervised clustering analysis uncovered nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1), a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), as the top expressed gene in the C0-endothelial subpopulation, but markedly downregulated in FECD. Consistent with human corneas, a UVA-

SUBMITTER: Wang Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8807987 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature