Aging and Light Stress Result in Overlapping and Unique Gene Expression Changes in Photoreceptors.

ABSTRACT: Advanced age is one of the leading risk factors for vision loss and eye disease. Photoreceptors are the primary sensory neurons of the eye. The extended photoreceptor cell lifespan, in addition to its high metabolic needs due to phototransduction, makes it critical for these neurons to continually respond to the stresses associated with aging by mounting an appropriate gene expression response. Here, we sought to untangle the more general neuronal age-dependent transcriptional signature of photoreceptors with that induced by light stress. To do this, we aged flies or exposed them to various durations of blue light, followed by photoreceptor nuclei-specific transcriptome profiling. Using this approach, we identified genes that are both common and uniquely regulated by aging and light induce

SUBMITTER: Escobedo SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8872477 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature